Project Launch:

In Canoa, Dominican Republic, books are scarce. The elementary school and high school provide dated textbooks and the majority of homes have no reading material -- even newspapers are rare. With no books at home, the children of illiterate or semi-literate parents often get little encouragement to study outside of school and their exposure to education ends with the close of the school day. Nonetheless, people in Canoa recognize the power of books and a group of community leaders in Canoa wanted to provide the town with the educational resources of a library - specifically, a comfortable reading area for children, simple chapter books for mid-level readers, and several computers to teach basic computer skills and English. In partnership with a Peace Corps Volunteer and Canoa's Library Committee, a $500 grant from World Connect’s Kids to Kids Program helped the group assemble the books, furniture, and computers needed to set up the library as well as the people to manage the facility. Labor for construction, cleaning, and maintenance of the library came from community resources. The Canoa’s Public Library now has over 450 books in categories such as literature, religion, and foreign language and the library has become very popular, with more than 120 visits in the first two weeks of operation. Children and teachers have had brief weekly orientations to all of the services that the library now has to offer and during these orientations, students took turns reading out loud to groups. The library has been integrated with the local schools, and the children in the local schools look forward to their bi-monthly trips to the library.