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Setting up a little library

How To Make A Library. Without Really Planning It. Setting up a little library. in Ecuador. By Ellen M. Sundt. Ecuador. 1999 - Who was I?. Experienced librarian (research library) Some small experience from public libraries A 50 years old backpacker Norwegian = rich, Ecuadorian = poor.

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Setting up a little library

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  1. How To Make A Library Without Really Planning It Setting up a little library in Ecuador By Ellen M. Sundt

  2. Ecuador

  3. 1999 - Who was I? • Experienced librarian (research library) • Some small experience from public libraries • A 50 years old backpacker • Norwegian = rich, Ecuadorian = poor

  4. rich ... poor

  5. Volunteering --The library idea Basic considerations • Enlightening and bringing delight -- • Why learn to read if you’ve got nothing to read? • One single book may mean a lot to one or several persons • A library, however small, may mean the world to the community sharing it … ………… • Domestic loans for free?

  6. Preparations (Oct.-Dec. 1999) • Language studies • Making contacts • Looking for … • libraries • supporting organisations

  7. Necessary for success: GOOD SUPPORTERS • Someone local willing to give practical support and advice from the beginning.(Local Rotary club) • Someone prepared to take the economic and practical responsibility for conducting the library on a permanent basis after your departure (same club) • A reliable, stable and interested day-to-day manager (A woman from the village) • One or more local professional librarian(-s) ready to mentor that person, helping develop library skills (2, in the course of 10 years) + SOME MONEY

  8. Useful contacts • The Norwegian consul • A local Rotary club • An elderly German woman • The mother of my temporary “family” in Ecuador • The chairperson of the city library organisation • Friends and relatives at home

  9. Entering the village of Nono

  10. Half of my local Nono family

  11. The library building

  12. Library users, 1

  13. Library users, 2

  14. Quito, mountain Pichincha concealing Nono.

  15. Carpenters building shelves

  16. Collection at the end of my stay 300 books, mostly bought secondhand, organised according to Dewey system. Traditional cards used for catalog and lending system Categories: • All 10 Dewey categories represented, the local interest in agriculture weighing a little more than others. • Fiction books for adults • Poetry • Theatre • Youth books • Childrens’ books • A multi-volume encyclopaedic dictionary • A multi-volume history work of South America • A globe and a local map

  17. Inauguration, March 2000

  18. THE BIG DEAL KEEPING THE LIBRARY RUNNING

  19. Nono library 8 years later Anno 2008

  20. 2008: Library users, 1

  21. 2008: Library users, 2

  22. Challenges

  23. PROBLEM#1:The organisation supporting • No budget for buying books. Very little money for keeping the library running.Low salary, long hours • The library filled up with gifts from people’s private bookshelves. • Interest in electronic equipment • … dreams of setting up an Internet café in the library, making it run by means of money paid by local Internet users • ... leading to dumping the card catalogue without the employee knowing how to handle a PC

  24. PROBLEM #2: Scarce economy OUTLINE OF AN “IDEAL” ANNUAL BUDGET 2002 - amountingto $ 6300(NOK 50.000) Startup expenses 2000: $ 900 (NOK 6500) . Budget 2002: $ 1900 (NOK 14.000) Salario mínimo de ley – total de 55 horas semanal - $ 165x12 $ 1.980 (Salario de $ 120 mensual por un trabajo de 40 h. semanal) Seguro social – 2 personas - $ 30 /mes (¿?) x 12 $ 360 Materiales $ 60/mes x 12 $ 720 Movilización (2 veces/mes á $ 7,50) x 24 $ 180 Teléfono (3 veces/mes, celular, á $ 6) x 36 $ 216 Limpieza del área fuera de la bibl. $ 1/mes x 12 $ 12 Libros $ 1.500 Revistas – 6 á $ 60 $ 360 Periódico $ 140 Capacitación (Cursos) $ 400 Supervisión $ 400 TOTAL – 1 año$ 6.268

  25. To keep the library going… Possible part of solution • Look for economic support in Norway for the library. • Requirement: Ability to present information (statistics, reports…) on a regular bases

  26. But alas …PROBLEM #3:Communicating • Internet and PCs in the library unstable • Little understanding of the need for regular information. • Not prepared to discuss practical solutions aiming at better communication / better economy

  27. IMPROVING THE COMMUNICATION?Possible solution… • Since 2008: An amount of $ 100 per month transferred from Norway once a year, to cover: • Extra monthly payment $ 30 for the day-to-day manager of the library, on the condition that information is supplied regularly • Newspaper and a few books • Some minor education (courses) • The money sent is payed via a professional librarian • … who is also well informed about the library world of Ecuador, and therefore an important contact to “open the doors” to that world

  28. SUCCESSES • A basic library with an acceptable library system set up during 7 weeks’ stay. • Still going strong after 10 years • Full shelves, many books of all kinds, a newspaper subscription, and 2-3 PCs and Internet access, - an important part of a general upgrading of the village carried through since 2000. • Children and adults borrow books for reading at home • Important for the local school • Used for studies and homework, with assistance of the library day-to-day manager .

  29. I’m not the only one Others in Ecuador Other Norwegian library projects in developing countries…

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