A few days ago, the Rural Libraries calendar for next year came out, just in time for our general assembly. This meant that coordinators could take it back to their libraries and communities.
This time it features a photo taken by Jorge Camacho at one of our sectoral meetings and a text from a presentation by Alfredo:
"Before being librarians, we are human beings. And we are a collective, we are the other, we are the rest."
A beautiful message for a beautiful new year.
Amidst much nostalgia, a beautiful gift from our brother Alfredo Mires appears: Uncle Lino's book.
And Uncle Lino arrives to continue telling stories and enchanting us, to make us smile even when life gets difficult. He tells us picaresque stories, full of traditions, customs and beliefs and, as Abelina says in the first pages, rather than reading with our eyes, we should learn to read with our hearts.
Let us try to read this great book with our hearts, so that we can hear the voices of our grandparents, of those who always saw the light in the darkest of times, and discover the sparks of hope captured in the illustrations by the children of Contumazá and Cajamarca.
Quite simply, Uncle Lino's book has a lot to teach us.
Our gratitude goes to those who made this publication possible.
The Rural Library in Educational Institutions (BRIE) at the Víctor Andrés Belaunde Public Teacher Training College in Jaén held a Blind Date event with the Rural Library Network books on 20 October at the college, with the aim of strengthening identities and reading practices. We conceive of our rural library as a living space for encountering others and books, as a place where coexistence and rural culture are present.
For this activity, eighth-cycle students in the Citizenship and Social Sciences Programme, accompanied by teacher Sara Moreno, had covered 185 books from the Network with recycled paper. They also placed a phrase alluding to the content of each book on each book cover.
Then, students and teachers from nine Study Programmes at the School of Education freely chose one of these books, registered it in the library with a commitment to read it.
Now, the organisers of the Citizenship and Social Sciences Programme are attentive to reading and exchanging with other BRIE books.
From the Central Office of the Rural Libraries Network of Cajamarca, we congratulate this wonderful activity to promote reading.
On 24 and 25 October, we held our second Network Training Assembly, with the valuable participation of librarians, coordinators, representatives of BRIE (Rural Libraries in Educational Institutions) and the central office team.
It was a pleasure to reconnect, share, renew the relationships that unite us as Network volunteers, and feel the spirit of collaboration and mutual support that continues to be at the heart of our work.
The main purpose of this assembly was to analyse the progress made, reflect on current challenges, and define new goals and projects that will continue to strengthen and encourage reading in rural communities.
Active participation in our assemblies is essential, as this is where we learn new methodologies and strategies that inspire us to promote reading in our communities.
Shared reading fills us with motivation to continue working with commitment and affection.
In addition, the assemblies offer an excellent opportunity to exchange books, thus allowing us to renew the titles available in each library, share the wisdom of our grandparents, and renew our cultural identity.
The goals we have set for ourselves on this occasion can only be achieved together. We say goodbye with hearts full of gratitude, hope, and a commitment to continue bringing reading to every corner of the countryside, where a book always finds hands willing to open it and hearts ready to learn.
Rosa Rumay
Responsible for the Network Exchange Centre
On the evening of Thursday, 23rd October, the Cajamarca Rural Library Network enthusiastically presented ten new publications: El libro del tío Lino (Uncle Lino's Book) and the first nine volumes of our Biblioteca Campesina (Peasant Library) series, in their second, third and fourth editions.
Mr Ramiro Yglesias, a community member from Contumazá, was in charge of presenting El libro del tío Lino. He told us about the origin of these traditional and popular stories from his region. Ramiro also mentioned the students of the school in Cosiete, Uncle Lino's birthplace, and the students of the Cristo Rey School in Cajamarca, whose drawings embellish our edition of El libro del tío Lino.
The new first volumes of the Biblioteca Campesina series were presented by Professor Sara Moreno, representative of our BRIE (Rural Library in Educational Institutions) at the Víctor Andrés Belaunde Public Higher Education School in the city of Jaén, and by our comrades Javier Huamán, Manuela Vásquez, Rosa Rumay, and Sergio Díaz, from different libraries and provinces.
Having these new publications in our hands is a great joy for us. Teacher Alfredo Mires said that a new book is ‘like the birth of a new child.’
But the reissues are also a source of happiness for us, because for years many of the books in the Biblioteca Campesina series have not been available in our rural libraries because they have been out of print. Soon, all these new books will be distributed to our libraries in the countryside, and we are sure that the communities will receive them with great affection.
Thank you to everyone who joined us tonight.
Sergio Días Estela, from the community of Masintranca, Chota
Coordinator of the Cajamarca Rural Library Network
The Rural Libraries Network was invited to participate with a presentation at the Cundinamarca Public Libraries Meeting in Colombia, an annual event organised by the Departmental Institute of Culture and Tourism (IDECUT) which brought together hundreds of librarians and cultural agents in the city of Girardot from 14 to 17 October.
The meeting was held under the slogan "Roots that read, communities that grow, public libraries that enrich rural life" and focused its programme on the role of public and community libraries as spaces for community development, culture and social cohesion.
We were able to share our 54 years of experience with libraries in rural communities in Cajamarca, Peru, and the important role that volunteering plays in our organisation. Our publications were received with great interest and inspired efforts to preserve traditions and knowledge in the public libraries of Cundinamarca.
We are grateful for this opportunity to share our experience and thus forge new human and community ties.
Towards the end of August, we received a visit from Cuban broadcaster and radio presenter José Ignacio López Vigil. Together with his sister, María, and his wife, Tachi Arriola, he is the creator of several radio series that take a critical look at Latin American history, society and culture, accompanying and reinforcing many of the principles of our Network.
His radio dramas, such as Un paisano me contó, 500 años and Noticias de última ira (the latter two based on texts by our Uruguayan friend Eduardo Galeano), reflect the unjust reality of our context and invite us to reflect on the injustices that have been dormant until today due to colonialist logic and imposition.
José Ignacio and his people are also great admirers of our work in rescuing and raising awareness of Andean traditions. His suitcase returned to its place filled with several of our books. During the lunch we shared with him, the always interesting conversation was peppered with lessons, teachings, anecdotes and colourful knowledge exchanged in the warmth of friendship.
We cannot close this note without warmly recommending his website (www.radialistas.net), where all his work can be found free of charge. Thank you, maestro and brother José Ignacio, we look forward to seeing you soon to continue our conversation.
Rumi Mires
