The Dewey Decimal System, like democracy, doesn't work everywhere

Through a generous donation from the Rotary Club of Pensacola and an extremely hard-working volunteer, around 20 schools (mine included) received brand-new libraries. The books are gorgeous and it finally gave the my school the push it needed to get their own library in gear.

These past fews weeks has had me do endless amounts of organizing, labeling, and cleaning. Though we went to a training on how to properly code books, it just isn't for El Salvador or, at least, my school. The system is onerous and un-useful in a small school like ours where no one has ever or likely will ever see what a public library is. So, I decided that organizing it by level/grade was the best way and it seems to be working out beautifully. The sections are marked and the kids are slowing learning which shelves to direct themselves to. The marking though is taking all of my time and rendering me exhausted at the end of each day. It makes me quite fearful of how I'll do back in the States on a real work schedule!

In other news, July is the month schools start preparing for their independence celebrations. The cachiporas start learning their dance routines and the band starts practicing. I take that back, the band is formed and starts practicing. It's so interesting to me that the kids only play the instruments 2 months out of the year. The rest of the year they are stored away in a gross, wet storage room.

I am super busy this month. This weekend Engineers without Borders are coming to take measurements for the water system and latrines they will be installing in October. So, that with the library is taking lots of my time. It's good though. I will make one last push to complete my library project and then I'll be off!