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Every donation made now through October 31 will be included in our Fall Matching Grant.
This year we are pleased to announce a generous donor has again offered to provide the funding for our Annual Matching Grant. Please consider being part of this opportunity to double our funding moving forward into our new horizons.
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Our Biggest announcement ever:San Juan del Sur Biblioteca Móvil SA
The library has applied with the local government to become a small business called an SA (Sociedad Anonima). This process should be completed in October. The Biblioteca had previously been under the wings of the HJH Foundation. It became evident when we started the relocation and reconstruction we needed to become our own entity in Nicaragua. The optimum plan was to have the library become a separate entity as a small business to go forward in our new, renovated, library location. This has meant restructuring the library as a business that will provide the same community services with HJH as a client providing the free community services.
Edwin Vasquez will be the library manager, and the original library staff will now be employed by the Biblioteca Móvil SA with their own department head titles and job descriptions. The Biblioteca will produce items needed locally (3D printing products) and offer additional fee-based services, such as space for meetings, workshops, craft classes, and service-learning tours for reasonable fees.
There will be new monthly accounting requirements and monthly tax reports and payments. We anticipate having an inauguration of the library building and the new “fee for services” model in mid-November. This marks a new era, and the potential for the Biblioteca to become more self-sustaining at some point has greatly increased with this solution to become an entity that can provide products and services for sale.
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HJH Executive Board Retreat, August 9 – 10 |
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 | Board Members and Library Staff enjoy one of many meals and chats together |
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We know that review and planning are essential for the sustainability of the work that we do. For the last three years, members of the Executive Board have set aside time for Retreats: meetings to examine, reflect, and plan ahead so we can evaluate the library’s challenges and successes, consider new programs, review fundraising efforts, and examine finances.
When board members Jane Mirandette, Patricia Herron, Will Hudgins, and Rosemary Green traveled to SJDS in early August, they met in person with Edwin Vasquez and Julie Speier, who live in SJDS, and with Barb Thorne, Lily Griner, Alex Brown, and Jill Gramling by zoom. We welcomed new Executive Board members Julie Speier and Barb Thorne.
Here are a few of our talking points:
- The topics discussed in our grand announcement of the upcoming status of the Biblioteca Móvil SA were a major part of the discussions and planning that took place Reviewing the legal status and the new role of HJH as a client of the library took a great deal of imagination and research. This discussion continued throughout the week of the Retreat.
- We reviewed the progress of the reconstruction of the new library facility and made plans to continue with the work that still needs to be completed. The board members honored the work of our contractor Henry when we shared a retreat dinner with Henry Cabillo and his wife.
- Expressing our appreciation for all of the supporters and donors who helped provide the necessary funding to come this far in the renovations was another major topic.
- HJH’s new responsibilities to hire the library as a business to provide the community and mobile services, as well as fundraising goals and opportunities were explored extensively.
- The successful installation of another RACHEL system and teacher training, this time at Escuela Chamorro, gave us more plans to discuss. We hope to continue our work in the Genízaro community by installing more digital libraries in other schools. Read more on this below.
- A small group of us have been working in the background to examine and interpret circulation statistics, particularly for the books that are checked in and out to rural schools on the mobile project. Barb Thorne and Victor Zuniga (Advisory Board member and technology advisor) spent countless hours reviewing our circulation systems, and the statistics now show steadily growing activity.
- We began planning the dedication of the new children’s room in honor of Georgia Crowell. Her extremely generous gift of thousands of childrens’ books in Spanish over the past few years has given the mobile project and the library collections new life. We hope to announce more about the dedication soon. You can read about Georgia’s incredible gift to the HJH in our 2022 Valentine’s Day newsletter.
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 | Board Members, Library Staff, and Guests at Retreat |
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Edwin Vasquez will be the general manager of the new Biblioteca. He is a member of the Executive Board and is an ambassador for the library to the entire community. Near the end of the second day of the retreat, Edwin noted with pride our trademark – San Juan del Sur Biblioteca Móvil (SJDSBM) – which has been how our presence has always been known in the community. Edwin firmly announced this as the name of the new small business which will be the library’s new identity. His mission, and that of the library staff, will be to introduce even more people to SJDSBM’s exciting new services and programs. All are welcome! |
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Another RACHEL System Successfully Installed!
In August, Rosemary Green and Patricia Herron traveled to San Juan del Sur with other HJH board members to install a new RACHEL (Remote Area Community Hotspot for Education and Learning) system in one of the local public schools. RACHEL provides digital collections of full-text books, information databases, and curriculum materials to schools through a local area network. Many of the collections are in Spanish. The objective is to offer these materials to teachers and students in schools that do not have access to the internet.
During a previous trip in 2022 we brought a RACHEL system to Escuela Adelante (EA), an elementary bilingual charter school. The implementation was a resounding success and confirmed our commitment to offer RACHEL to additional schools. Opportunity Tree, a Colorado-based organization that funds our satellite libraries, generously provided the funding to purchase the equipment for both schools.
While in SJDS we delivered the equipment (the RACHEL server, chromebooks, and peripheral hardware) to the school in the Genízaro community and offered a series of training sessions. These included going over administrative tasks and sharing collections appropriate for the elementary grades. We also provided handouts which describe both Spanish and English language learning resources as well as collections which enhance the secondary school curriculum.
Jackeline, the school director expressed her deep gratitude for the RACHEL educational resources that will enhance the teaching and learning in the school. She also noted that being able to retrieve materials digitally, while learning how to use computers, will help the students develop important technical skills.
Jackeline oversees 6 additional schools in the community. Once she realized the positive impact RACHEL would have, she immediately asked if we could help her acquire 6 additional systems. We were thrilled at how quickly she and her teachers learned to use and subsequently embraced RACHEL, and we told her we would try our best to honor her request.
If you would like to help us expand our RACHEL program, we would love your help. Please consider a donation that will help us reach our goal of 6 new systems we hope to install in 2025.
A total of $1,838 buys the necessary equipment for one system.
· $680 – RACHEL server
· $800 – 4 chromebooks
· $160 buys 3 headphones and 3 splitters
· $58 Surge protector
· $140 Chromebook Charging station
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Rosemary and Pat on the first day of training at the school |
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The second day of training with additional teachers |
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Volunteer Emma shares her experience working with the library and enjoying soccer
“This summer I had the privilege of working with Jane and the San Juan Del Sur library. The library goes on a mobile project to underserved schools and provides children the opportunity to check out books at the school. I was able to establish relationships with the children I worked with. One of the best memories I had in Nicaragua was with the kids at these schools. I had the pleasure of making arts and crafts with them. They were all very welcoming and made me feel extremely grateful for this opportunity.
One of the first days I was there, I was in Managua and we visited a local community called Ameya. I was able to help the kids in Ameya make solar lamps. What stood out to me the most was the lack of electricity in a lot of people’s homes. Jane had the idea to help the children make lamps for their homes and families to try and remediate the lack of electricity. This not only helped them illuminate their homes but it provided them an opportunity to enhance their ability to read and develop a love for literature. |
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Left, Maria Paula and Emma working on solar lamps in Ameya.
Right, Emma and staff off to the beach.. |
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“In addition, I was able to incorporate my love of soccer into this trip. Jane and her staff connected me with a team of women that I was able to practice and play with. This was very special to me as we were able to play in a tournament and win. I was able to bring some of the soccer clothes I accumulated throughout my years playing to donate to this team.
Overall, this experience has taught me important lessons and values. One of the nights in Nicaragua, Jane was telling me that in the United States, we barely have a community that we can connect and interact with. My trip has made me realize the importance of community. Everyone in Nicaragua knows each other and understands the value of establishing relationships with each other. When we were working in the library everyone was unified and had a shared goal. The San Juan del Sur library staff operates like a family. They welcomed me with open arms and provided me with a sense of belonging while I was there. I have also learned the importance of education. Even small differences like bringing a lamp home to school children’s houses make a huge difference in their accessibility to education. It also allows them to grow their passion for reading. By bringing books to underserved communities it allows children to foster their education and curiosity through literacy.” |
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Left, enjoying a meal in San Juan del Sur
Right, Emma joins the soccer team |
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Surprising New Mini Book & Craft Fairs:
In early July, Edwin was approached by the mayor of San Juan del Sur, who provides activities for children in a rural community in her district most Saturdays. She requested library staff provide a children’s literacy event in Ostional, one of the communities the mobile project serves. The library staff set to work at very short notice and provided one of the Read for the Record books that we promote annually and a series of children’s craft activities to go with the story. There were over 50 children in attendance, two library staff (Katia and Denis), the mayor, five of her staff, and another 10 members of the Alcaldia’s (mayor’s) office staff. It was a tremendous success and, since that event, the library staff has provided biweekly reading and craft events with the mayor, her staff, and office in the communities of their choosing. It is a delightful and effective collaboration.
With Edwin’s leadership, the library has long been a community resource for the mayor’s office and the local Ministry of Education; the library and the staff serve as requested. This is a new offshoot of that recognition which is very encouraging.
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A note from Jane:
Well, the past few months since we reached out with our last newsletter in late June have been some of the most trying, radical, and exhilarating times I have experienced since starting the Biblioteca in 2001. I am so grateful for everyone who worked so hard to seek out and provide the funding and brain power to get through the 8 month process of deciding who we were going to be now! Our Executive and Advisory Board members played amazing roles in all this as mentioned in our Retreat article and also the library staff. Emma Griner, who was given a Service Learning Gap trip with me as her high school graduation present by her grandmother, Executive Board Member Lily Griner, got to see our staff in action. As Emma wrote, she experienced what a real community feels like and recognized the greater needs in a developing nation. .
One fact that emerged from our time together in July during the move was that no important library events, functions, or projects were ignored. Everything happened like clockwork while the move was underway! In fact, the library was open on Friday and even held a final patio event that day, finished the move completely on Saturday and Monday, and patrons of the library were lining up and being welcomed to the new building Tuesday morning! All this while making Emma feel welcome and included and even hosted by the younger members of the staff. I am sure the new business entity will maintain the same level of community service and be able to offer even more.
One of my few regrets of this time is not having yet sent thank you’s to those of you who mustered so well to provide the funding to help us do all of this very needed work construction and legal research. Annual donation receipts will, of course, be provided, but the Executive and Advisory Board and the library staff and I feel deeply appreciative and would like you all to know that!
A last item to share is how “in between” all this feels…In between whatever “the this was and the that will be” always feels so strange and unsteady. While we were creating Articles of Incorporation and new job descriptions, working with a new accountant, anticipating the library being able to sell items and work more efficiently in the library as a business and what our new relatedness will be; we are still thinking of everything as being the same. This came crashing to mind as Edwin and I and some of our Anniversary goers were recently planning the 23rd Anniversary of our library, at a time when we had already switched gears and applied to have a brand new entity. We have been told that without unforeseen factors, our paperwork for the new business is scheduled to be completed in mid-October. Whoops, not another Anniversary of the old then, but an inauguration of the new! All this at the same time I have just gotten to celebrate my 80th birthday. Can you imagine, we’re doing all this and I’m 80. Ah well.
So here we are, on this fine edge of beginning something amazing. Please join us in supporting all that will be, making our new venture solid and secure with your encouragement. Please support and share our matching grant to lead us into this vibrant new chapter once again!
Fondly and with deep appreciation, Jane
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New mailing address: Here is the HJH Libraries For All new mailing address. |
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Hester J Hodgdon Libraries For All
4562 Joydance Court
Fort Collins, CO 80524 |
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We are registered as Hester J Hodgdon Libraries for All. Please donate today with the PayPal or JustGiving buttons above OR by check made payable to:
Hester J Hodgdon Libraries for All
4562 Joydance Court
Fort Collins, CO 80524 |
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