A day like today...

On a day like today, on 8th July more than twenty years ago, Juan Medcalf, founder of the Network of Rural Libraries of Cajamarca, died.

Juan came to Peru to join the path of the many who followed the calls of Liberation Theology, volunteers willing to live - in flesh and blood - the option for the poor. Juan, a committed and authentic man, came to live in Bellavista, a small community in Llaucán, Bambamarca, in a humble little house in the countryside. It was there that he began to lend his first books to his neighbours and to understand the magnitude of life in the countryside. It was there that the Network was born in the heart of a priest.

It has been many years since Juan is no longer with us. I imagine him now, there, together with Alfredo, talking, laughing, remembering us, dreaming and longing for a glass of rum. May God continue to enjoy them.

Rita Mocker

Because together we are stronger

Filled with joy and full of illusions, on Thursday 27 June, we waited for our brothers and sisters who were arriving, one by one, from the different library communities; some had travelled for two or three days, and many of them had made the journey on foot. We gathered to celebrate our General Assembly, the first of the year 2024.

The Assembly, for us, has many meanings, starting with the meeting to strengthen our ties as a librarian family: a time to share, to continue learning and unlearning, to reflect on what we have done and to set ourselves new challenges, an opportunity to recharge our batteries and keep moving forward.

And in this Assembly, apart from showing our gratitude with the all'pata paguikun, rescuing the wisdom of our elders, celebrating the feast of the exchange for the implementation of our libraries with new books; we paused to review the conception of the Rural Libraries Network. With the support of our compas Javier Naranjo, Orlanda Agudelo, Nathalia Quintero, Sara Moreno and the valuable contributions of each of the coordinators, who spoke to us about the content of some of our books, enriching the presentations and discussions. 

And, to receive the energy of our dear land, we closed the Assembly by visiting Apu Qayaqpuma, a sacred mountain, from which our brother Alfredo Mires left us four great books in which he recorded the rock art of our ancestors.

Because together we are stronger; we are sure that dear mother earth, our apus and our deceased will do everything possible for us to continue meeting again, to continue coming together in the next assembly.

Questions from Orlanda and Javier

A few weeks ago our friends Javier Naranjo and Orlanda Agudelo came from Colombia to accompany us, to visit some libraries in the communities and to participate in our General Assembly.

During this time of their visit we also took the opportunity and asked them to share with us their emotive strategies to read ourselves, each one of us, and to answer the many questions that arise in our lives. It is great when Orlanda and Javier ask a question because no one has to worry about finding the right answer. That's how it feels for the adults who participate in their workshops and also for the children. They simply ask questions to help us discover our affections, remember our dreams and express our sorrows and frustrations. Their questions help us to remember how we learned to live and to be ourselves.

This year, it was a pleasure to welcome them back to the classrooms of EI "Cristo Rey", where the children really enjoyed "The question, a journey inside". This workshop was also replicated for teachers and educational promoters from various organisations.

Thank you, Javier and Orlanda, for your pleasant presence! We look forward to seeing you back again, until your next visit.

Minga at the headquarters

We were approaching our First General Assembly scheduled for this year, where we shared experiences and knowledge with our fellow coordinators of the Network.

Part of the Assembly is dedicated to the Book Exchange, which is the exchange of books read for new titles, which are taken by the coordinators to the different libraries in the rural areas. For this reason a minga was organised at the Central Office to prepare the new books and in this way continue to encourage reading.

Our deepest thanks to the volunteers who helped us in this wonderful work, their support is very valuable to us.

We continue to journey, we continue to live, we continue to strengthen ourselves in favour of reading and our culture.

Enthusiastic young people

The young people of the Rural Libraries in Educational Institutions (BRIE) of the School of Superior Pedagogical Education "Víctor Andrés Belaunde" are sharing books and reading in their school. And they share this text with us, telling us about their initiatives and experiences:

On Friday 22 June, after several hours of heavy rain that did not discourage the young people of the Citizenship and Social Sciences Programme, we carried out with great enthusiasm and commitment an activity to disseminate and promote reading at the Pedagogical School of Jaén. We presented a creative mural and shared our testimonies of how much access to books helps us in our teacher training process and in our outreach activities in the rural communities where we develop reading circles with children and adults.

During this activity, several teachers and students of our College showed interest in the publications, registering to borrow books. 

Another welcome announcement during these days was that the Communication Programme, which 29 young people have joined, is joining the BRIE.  

From the Central Office of the Rural Libraries Network we send our congratulations for this beautiful news and a "hug of many arms". We are comforted to know that our family is growing.

For Marciano

A few weeks ago we received the sad news that Marciano Amaya Pretel, from Anriqsha in Contumazá, has passed away.

For many years, Marciano was a member of the Rural Library Network and the Community Programme as librarian and coordinator.

Many books passed through Marciano's hands, many roads we walked together, we visited many children with projectable capacities and we spent long nights in the community of Santa Ana attending to the sick and suffering. We learned from Marciano about plants and healing and we remember many anecdotes and laughs shared over the years.

Thank you, comrade Marciano for your teachings, for your company, for your affection and your solidarity. Someday, our paths will meet again.