I have been living in Bolivia now for almost 4 years and recently decided to leave my full time employment and work voluntarily on some library projects here in Cochabamba and La Paz. I first came to Bolivia in July 2003 to work as the librarian at the American School in Cochabamba. During my time at the school (3 years in total) I spent most of my spare time volunteering at the Temporal Public Library. At first it was just helping the librarian, Teo, with some cataloguing and reference work, and then developed into running activities for the children in the neighborhood. From this experience I found it more challenging and worthwhile to work within a community with very few resources, as opposed to a well financed and resourced community.
Word soon spread through various networks, and I have been asked by various organizations and other public libraries to help them develop their libraries and train their staff. As there is only one Library School in Bolivia (in La Paz and focusing on Small Special Libraries), there is virtually no one in Bolivia with the public library skills that I have been able to provide. At present I work with around 15 librarians from some of the poorest neighborhoods of Bolivia. Here they work under tremendously hard conditions, many of them are volunteers or receive very little remuneration for their work. They are incredibly dedicated and determined to deliver library services to their own communities. The work I am doing with them, both training and literacy programs, enables them to continue their work with greater success and confidence.
With the new governments focus on literacy development, I am in a perfect position to offer help to a country which has few professional public librarians working in the field. For those of you who have known me for a long time, I have always wanted to work towards developing libraries in communities most in need. I have been extremely lucky, in Bolivia, to find a place which not only could benefit from the skills I have to offer, but also enables me to work in a place which is challenging, meaningful and fulfilling, both on a personal and professional level.
I am writing to ask you to support me in my efforts to work with libraries here in Bolivia, this support is meant to just help me until I find long term funding.
There are two aspects to the work I am doing:
1: Training
Currently I am implementing a training program in the city of El Alto, situated high above the city of La Paz. Here I am currently implementing a year long training program and am acting as an advisor to the librarians on different issues such as literacy promotion and the profession of librarianship. This training program includes library promotion, conducting literacy programs, classification of material and creating community spaces.
The program stated in August 2006 with the theme of “What is a Library”. Its hard to breathe at 4000 meters above sea level, but over the course of the day the librarians and I fleshed out the idea of what the perfect library would be (in an ideal world) and how we could meet these needs based on the limited resources we have here in Bolivia. It was a great day, and we worked hard and enthusiastically. Recently I returned to Senkata to help the network plan its year and was happy to see that the issues we discussed in the first workshop were being discussed in real terms in the planning meeting.
I have also been asked by the University of San Andres (the main public university in La Paz) to present a workshop to the library students there and participate in developing library training programs for the Public Library in La Paz.
I hope to be able to offer this training program to other librarians and networks in the future as there is an obvious need.
2: Developing Libraries
I have been working both with Public Library Networks as well as Non Government Organisations (NGOs) in an advisory capacity. As well as the Senkata Network I have been working with a small association here in Cochabamba.
“Atillka” Bibliotecas Populares (Association of Libraries in Marginal Neighborhoods), is an organization situated in Cochabamba Bolivia, whose objective is to provide social and educational support for the children and young adults in poor neighborhoods in Cochabamba. I have been acting as an advisor to this association for almost 2 years now and have been implementing a reading program in these communities. For 6 months, one afternoon a week, I visited the libraries and worked with a group of children on their reading skills. This program was supported by a small grant we received from the International Reading Association and a very good friends mother in Belgium. We were able to buy resources for the program such as books, DVDs, and games. The program ran over 6 months and was very successful. At the end of the year we showed a video (as a reward) to each of the groups, one group didn’t want to watch the movie, they wanted to read instead. We took this as a huge sign of success!!
I am hoping this year, to be able to train volunteers in the community to take on the responsibility of the project and this will take the pressure off the librarians and make the project more sustainable. Other projects include developing a national public library network, starting with bringing the Senkata librarians to Cochabamba for a meeting with the Altikka librarians. The value of networking is huge here as there are no resources, we need to put our heads together and help each other.
Currently I am helping two Non Government Organisations to set up their library systems. Both who work in the areas of advocacy and human rights. In 2006 I wrote an analysis for a prison NGO which has enabled them to look at potential areas for growth in libraries with in the prisons. I am hoping that I will be able to continue to act as advisor for organizations who need to create libraries and organize their information within the confines of a very limited budget.
WHAT THE MONEY WILL BE USED FOR
Bolivia is not an expensive country and a little bit of money can go a long way and make a real difference – whether $50 or $500 or whatever amount is possible within your budget. (You can donate monthly if you want as well.) The money would be used to help cover some of the operating costs that go along with providing my consulting services, such as internet service, membership fees for professional librarian organizations, travel, telephone, printing, photocopying and supplies. It would also help cover some of my personal living expenses so that I can continue here until I am able to obtain a grant or access other ongoing funding.
There are also a couple of specific projects that need funding, if you are more comfortable donating for a specific project. One is that we are trying to develop a national library network here and want to bring the El Alto and La Paz librarians to Cochabamba for a planning meeting, however we need funding to help cover travel and meeting costs. If you would prefer to donate to buy resources for the reading program, that would be great as well.
WHY DONATE
Bolivia is a country with few resources and expertise to deliver library services at this level. The communities in Cochabamba and El Alto are some of the poorest in Bolivia and their libraries survive on the dedication of a group of volunteers and lowly paid librarians. In Bolivia there is little or no opportunity for library staff development, and therefore programming suffers. As such, I find myself in a place where my skills and expertise are really needed. The training and library development I am doing here are interventions that will be sustainable, helping to maintain the libraries and their programming even after I am gone.
This is an exciting opportunity for me personally and professionally. I am in the process of identifying longer term funding to cover my work here. However, I have a gap and need help in order to stay and continue my work until I access a grant, fellowship or other funding stream. That is why I am turning to friends and family. I believe very much in what I am doing here and if you feel the same way, please help. Anything that you can afford to send would be very much appreciated and would make a big difference here.
In return for your support, I promise to send updates about my work and be completely accountable for the money sent. (Just in case you think Im going to use it to travel South America!!!)
PLEASE DO NOT DONATE MONEY IF IT IS OUTSIDE YOUR FINANICAL RESOURCES.
HOW TO DONATE - please contact me directly paula (dot) pfoeffer(at)gmail.com
You can donate directly to my personal account or send a cheque to Paula Pfoeffer at this following snail mail address:
