So I’ve been trying to work on the library since I first arrived at my school. Wait let me say that again, I have been trying to work on this room with a large pile of books and some shelves that apparently once resembled a library. “What happened to it to make it not look like a library?” you ask.
Well over the summer the school received a donation of about 2-3 thousand books. All sorts of wonderful books, paperback, hard cover, children’s picture books, juvenile novels. Titles like ‘Judy Blume’, ‘Goosbumps’, and ‘Boxcar Children’. Authors like Robert Louis Stevenson, Roald Dahl, and Richard Scary. I told you, these books were awesome. They all made the trip from St. Louis, MO. The Priest in town is from there and I assume someone that he knew sent them to him guessing that he would find something to do with them.
After the books made it down to Belize, they were placed in the dark, humid, dusty room that was the library. This happened during the summer when there were no teachers to sort through them and do something with them.
Then I arrived. I took a look at this library and saw the potential but I also saw the task ahead of me. I attempted a few days of sorting and alphabetizing the books but I certainly wasn't making any progress all alone. The library seemed to be getting worse, or that's what I felt like until I gave up on it for a couple months. I focused on the computer lab and had some success with that. I was happy just ignoring the large room that was filled with books.
After we took our Easter Holiday back in the States I felt like I had some energy and I wanted to attempt to get this thing in working order. I had been letting some of the students come into and search through the pile of books to see what they could find to check out. This turned out to be a big motivator for me because I saw how excited the students were to get books. This was the kind of excitement that they told me about when I was getting my education degree. The same kind of excitement that I just didn’t see that much of in the states because books are so abundant.
What was I supposed to do? I wanted to get this thing in working order as soon as possible. This is when the text messaging started. Ultimately, three volunteers were able to come on the day that I requested Erica Howe, Christine Breland, and Rion Smith.
The first thing that we needed to do was clear all the books outside and sweep the place. This took about an hour, we killed countless roaches during this process. The dust looked like some one walked in with finely sifted dirt and scattered it all over the books, floor, and our clothes. Can you say ‘sneezing’?
Next we had to keep the kids from jumping on the piles of books that we had outside (by far the most difficult part). I new how much these kids like to go through these books and I also knew that putting them outside would leave them exposed to excited little hand trying to find something interesting and was therefore was a bad idea. There was nothing else that could be done and we needed to sweep the place out and rearrange the shelves to find space for the 3 new shelves that we had acquired. When the lunch bell rang the kids immediately jumped on the pile of books like seagulls on a trash pile. The only thing we could do was move the books back inside in order for us to continue working. We did it as quick as possible and what resulted was even more books on the floor of the library than was there in the first place. Panic started to set in.
This is when Erica and Christine took over and worked like book shelving machines and started putting a couple thousand books (no exaggeration) on the shelves. When they had to leave, I was left with just about a hundred books on the floor and two tables outside, no problem after what we had just accomplished. I called some of the Standard VI students to help me carry the tables and box the left over books. One final sweep and the place was done and ready business.
Things that I learned from this experience. 1) Libraries can get extremely dirty. 2) You should do something like this on a weekend when there are no students to distract you. 3) Never be afraid of calling on Peace Corps Volunteers for help.
Thanks Christine and Erica for all the hard work. Thanks Rion for the music you provided. Thanks to me for choosing the best team for this mission.
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