Book Burning
A library for Guatemalan children loses everything in fire
Staff -- School Library Journal, 1/1/2001
Eight years ago, the public library in Panajachel, Guatemala, was a dusty, airless room stacked with old books organized into three categories: "pedagogy," "various works," and "other." There were fewer than 20 children's books. But in 1993, the library started to improve dramatically, thanks in large part to Ann Cameron, the American-born children's book writer and Panajachel resident who made it a personal crusade to turn the town's library, or Biblioteca Popular, around.
Among other things, Cameron devised a simple cataloging system for the books. Then, she recruited a new person to run the library, convincing the mayor to replace a woman who spent most of her time polishing her nails. Cameron also sought more funding from the town government and donations from friends and publishers in the U.S. Over time, the library built up its collection to 8,000 books--including 3,000 children's books. More startling, in a country where poverty and illiteracy are rampant and where libraries are viewed as places for serious scholars, Panajachel boasted 2,000 children with library cards.
They crowded in to use the textbooks that are still scarce in Guatemalan schools. They read the bright new Spanish translations of the Clifford and Corduroy books. And in the summer, they came for storytimes and to watch movies on the library TV. Most important, says Cameron, was that children who normally wouldn't have seen a book until they were seven years old and enrolled in school, now started enjoying books at ages two, three, and four.
But at 2 a.m. on November 28, the library was destroyed by fire. The police blame it on a short circuit in the wiring. Almost every single book was lost. "It's like a person dying," says Cameron of the destruction. "The people in the town are giving me condolences."
Cameron's devotion to the town's library began in 1993. That's when the mayor of Panajachel made a comment to Esquire magazine that while many foreigners came to enjoy the beauty of Panajachel, they did little to help the community of 12,000 people. Some expatriates were "irate" at the mayor's remark, says Cameron. She, however, "thought it was absolutely true." So Cameron decided to donate some books to the library and, because of the region's notorious corruption, went down to the building to make sure they got there. That's when she saw the library's collection: "old magazines from Argentina, government propaganda--you touched anything and clouds of dust went up." Cameron and a friend paid to clean the place up, and things grew from there.
Cameron estimates the value of Panajachel's lost library collection at $120,000, a huge sum in a poor country. Still, almost immediately after the fire, the local cable-TV channel started a telethon to reopen the library. The first donor was a little boy who arrived with $3, practically a day's wages. Others donated books. By mid-December, the townspeople had raised $1,000.
Cameron now thinks the library will reopen. In fact, in less than two weeks, the town had found a temporary space for the library and area residents had donated 2,000 books. Cameron says it was crucial to move fast. "We're not going to lose the university readers," she explains. "But you can lose the little ones if too many months go by."
Tax-deductible contributions to the Panajachel library can be sent to Lake Atitlan Libraries, Inc., 449 Overlook Pass, Hudson, WI 54016. For information on donating books, see Cameron's Web site at http://www.childrensbestbooks.com
--Andrea Glick
