Seis de Julio

April 2019

La escuela de educación básica Seis de Julio, a special request from a close friend and Cotacachi teacher, was our very first library and the beginning of Bibliotecas.

In September of 2018, I came to Ecuador to work as a 4th grade teacher at an international school in the capital city of Quito.  Moving to Ecuador was something I had been hoping to do since returning to the US after my semester abroad here in 2011.  I had maintained deep friendships with my host families from that semester, been back to visit many times, and had even connected with the vibrant Ecuadorian community in my home city of Minneapolis.

 About halfway into my first year teaching here, my former host mom contacted me asking if I wanted to help her with a special project.  She, a teacher at a small-town school north of Quito, explained to me that her school did not have a school library and asked if I would be able to help create one.   After processing the shock of hearing about a school with no library, and learning that, in fact most schools in the country did not have one, I said I would be glad to help, and that maybe I could get my own students involved in the project.   

Thankfully, my students and administration were very enthusiastic about this idea and my 4th grade class led a school-wide book drive, collecting over 1500 books in about 2 weeks.  The kids came in at recess to help count books, and we made the delivery into an optional field trip.  The families really came together, arriving early at school on a Saturday to pack up books and caravan the 2 hours north to Cotacachi.  We arrived with arms full of books, cupcakes and snacks, and were welcomed by music and dance.  Together we unloaded books, shared food and began organizing the library. 

Towards the end of the day, a parent from a neighboring school approached me and asked “¿Cómo se inscribe mi escuela en este programa?”  “Program?” I thought to myself, “This was just my host mom’s idea.”  But she was right.  Why couldn’t it be a program? My host mom was not the only teacher or parent that wanted a school library for her children.  And my students in Quito were not the only ones willing to donate books.  The Seis de Julio library was not only the result of a 9 year long connection to Ecuador, but also the beginning of Bibliotecas para Imbabura.