The Rotary Education & Children’s Issues Provisional Club has created and launched a mobile library in Guatemala in partnership with four local educational organizations (NGOs) to support education and literacy. They believe that by increasing literacy and strengthening family involvement in the education of children, they are also supporting the Rotary pillars of promoting peace, growing local economies, and assisting mothers and children. For this reason, they created a sustainable, rotating, lending library to benefit young children and their families.
This traveling library model is both viable and feasible. The club is responsible for managing the Mobile Library Program which is implemented on the ground by four school/project directors who are also members of the club. Many participants in this club are trained educators, the majority are fully bilingual, and they have encouraged all members to be involved in the Mobile Library Program from choosing the books for the library, to writing the accompanying activities for each book, to monitoring and evaluating the program. In addition, with the aid of literacy experts in the club, they have been able to offer a professional development component to the program for local educators who are partnering with the mobile library.
Reading a book at home may seem like a common activity in developed countries. However, sharing a picture book with family members is a rarity within the majority of Guatemalan homes. Most children never have the opportunity to explore books, and to cultivate a joy for reading. Home libraries are rare. An important component is that the Mobile Library program brings Spanish language books into the homes of children and encourages families to come together in exploring picture books. All books are carefully selected to include appropriate cultural representation, accurate reading levels for our students and concepts related to the Rotary Four Way Test. They have developed a teacher’s manual that includes activities for teachers and parents to use as an accompaniment to the books.
Among the four organizations, 420 students (grades K-2) have directly benefited from this project in the first year of implementation. In addition, at least 800 family members who have accompanied a child on their reading journey have benefited. Finally, 8 teachers who have been professionally trained in reading engagement have gained new teaching strategies. These 'lead teachers' have multiplied their learning by replicating trainings with other K-2 teachers in their schools, expanding the outreach. The project will have an impact on students and families long into the future as it is intended to be repeated year after year.
They hope that their mobile library model may be replicated for clubs to use around the world!