Book Fairs

Remember book fairs in elementary school? The time when you got to go browse the red stacks that looks like giant suitcases? I remember always wanting to buy way to many of the books. My mother rarely gave into the overpriced books though and rightly so- we were avid library patrons so the need to buy when we could borrow for nothing was a much more sensible option. Remember the little book order forms that came in the Weekly Reader? I found myself thinking about this when I walked into school and saw a neatly laid out table of books. My initial thought was, "Great, another way to rip off the kids." But then I remembered that this wasn't anything different than what is done in the US. I am just so used to thinking of the worst because Salvadorans are notorious for buying cheap trinkets and snacks ALL THE TIME. Funny thing was that the most in demand book was one that was titled "Cartas de Amor." The "Love Letter" book could be seen being read by the snack stand ladies, seventh grade boys, and sixth grade girls (though the book selection was definitely not exclusive to those groups.) Salvadorans love them some romance and novelas. I imagine some kid will think he will definitely score some in the corn fields with that book....

It was interesting to see such interest in all the new shiny books. One of my big projects right now is forming a library committee to prepare for the enormous donation of books we are about to receive from the Rotary Club with and estimated value of over $1000 (and probably more like $2000.) This, however, has got me thinking about a whole new set of problems like space and more specifically air-conditioned space.

In my town there are 5 public buildings: the church, the school, the high school, city hall, and the community center. Only 3 out of the 5 have air conditioned space: the school, the high school, and city hall. The school's air conditioned space it about the size of a large broom closet. The space was built by a former volunteer to house the computer lab. Now, with the new books I would like to make room for them in there as well because they will be destroyed by rain, humidity or rats if left in any other part of the school... as we have discovered by looking at the current condition of the existing "library" and its books. So, we need a bigger A/C space and on top of that the whole school needs new roofs, and the bathrooms are the most disgusting places I have ever seen (pictures soon.) I would like to raise the money to do the project but the school is already in the process of doing it. But, projected time on the project is like 2-3 years. So for now we are squishing it in and making it work. It's a huge headache but I need to remember the upside (new books!) and focus on training the teachers to utilize the new collection effectively.