I don't think we have written to you all in awhile about our little library. First of all, a huge thank you to those of you who have donated books! We now have a nice collection of both fiction and non-fiction for various ages. All-time favorites include Pokemon, Buenas Noches Dora, David se Mete en Lios (David gets in trouble), and El Ciclo de Vida de la Rana (the life cycle of a frog).
We have had such a steady stream of kids and teenagers coming to our house to read that we decided to try a lending-library system on a small scale. I was nervous, but have been impressed at how responsible people can be when they have ownership of the project and understand the expectations clearly. The kids developed the rules (keep the book in a clean, dry place, do not eat while reading, do not fight with the books, etc.) and are responsible for explaining them to the other kids. They all put their names and addresses down when they have shown that they understand the rules. So far, we've been trying to talk with all their parents as well to let them know about the system. They can check out one book at a time. Some of the kids have been talking excitedly about how they want to move the library to our garage to have more room for lots of people to sit and read and how they can all take shifts cleaning and monitoring to make sure people are taking care of the books.
As if I wasn't already convinced of the value of literacy, living here has driven this even deeper. Developing imagination and creativity through reading will give them tools that they need to overcome the many challenges that confront them.
