The library project—which required extensive work from the Learning Through Libraries volunteers on most afternoons—consisted of not only covering and cataloging the books for check-out, but also teaching students how to use and appreciate the library system and showing teachers how to use the library in the classroom.
O’Donnell said that prior to the volunteers’ arrival, the library systems in the three Caluco schools were either non-existent or severely lacking, with only a few dozen books—most of them tattered—and a mere notebook to keep track of circulation.
HEARTS HIT HOME
Though Carlson, O’Donnell, and Gittler are graduating in the spring, the mission they have sought to uphold through Learning Through Libraries will not cease once they leave campus. The trio hope that Ruescher will promote the kind of service exemplified by the project in years to come—and perhaps even turn the undertaking into an actual J-Term course in the future. Currently, the Amigos School in Cambridge has collected over 700 books, waiting to bring literacy to a new group of students abroad through Learning Through Libraries.
The organizers of Learning Through Libraries are in awe at how a mere seed of an idea—the desire to “do something”—has blossomed into a full-fledged project with reverberations truly felt across national borderlines.
“I think it really enhanced the learning process for us,” O’Donnell said, as she reflected on the wide collaborative network established to bring the project into fruition. “It was so great to have different people from different programs to contribute their skills.”
“I never knew [some idea] could be turned to something so powerful and life changing,” Carlson said. “It can take on its own life. It’s just a beautiful organic project, and I didn’t really realize what an amazing thing we were a part of until it was actually happening.”
At the end of the first day, Carlson asked the 15 or so parents who had voluntarily showed up to the library workshop: “Is there anything anyone would like to say?”
A subdued mother stood up, Carlson recalled. As nervous as the woman was, she did not hesitate to show her gratitude, thanking God and project volunteers for their presence in Caluco. The mother said that she never imagined that there were people in other places—in the United States, in fact—who were thinking of others beyond their country lines. And of all places—to help the citizens of El Salvador! It was a blessing, she said.
—Staff writer Xi Yu can be reached at xyu@college.harvard.edu.