San Juan del Sur Biblioteca

Current San Juan del Sur Biblioteca Pública y Móvil building

Located near the town center, the San Juan del Sur Biblioteca Pública y Móvil offers a safe and inviting space that serves multiple purposes for the community. It houses a large selection of books in Spanish and English for all age groups. The library has a computer lab that patrons can use free of charge. Children and young adults gather to read, do homework, study, and participate in library and community-sponsored activities.  The library has a large classroom space and patio that is used for various community outreach activities such as English as a second language, public health information and clinics, craft activities, and more. The library also supports local schools by providing curriculum materials and basic school supplies for students and teachers when they are requested. In 2019 the Library installed a 3D printing center, Sueños3D, and in 2022, with a grant from the American Library Association’s (ALA) International Relations Round Table (IRRT) the staff began offering classes in 3D modeling and printing to local high school students. Sueños3D also fills orders for items needed by local businesses.

In 2003 Jane Mirandette established the Hester J. Hodgdon Libraries for All Foundation (HJH Foundation), a Colorado based 501(c)(3) tax-exempt charitable foundation which supports the San Juan del Sur Biblioteca Pública y Móvil and promotes lending libraries in Central America.

The HJH Foundation is committed to helping other lending libraries find success across Central America. If you are interested in starting your own library or learning about our lending system please see our Library in a Box Recipient Program and Initiating Lending Libraries in Developing Nations pages for more information.  

One of Director Jane Mirandette’s goals is to increase literacy options throughout Central America.  She is a member of the ALA and IRRT.

History of the San Juan del Sur Biblioteca Publica

The San Juan del Sur Biblioteca was established in 2001 on the patio of Hotel Villa Isabella by owner Jane Mirandette. It was the first public lending library in Nicaragua. The library’s first books were provided for the children of the neighborhood but Jane quickly realized that for most people in the community access to books and information was very limited.

When Mirandette first opened the library on her hotel patio, it began to fill with children and adults daily and many books were out in circulation. In January 2002, the library was able to move to its own location just a few steps away from the hotel and it became the first stationary public lending library in Nicaragua. The concept of lending libraries in Nicaragua was unfamiliar up until this point, which led many people to think that the books would not be returned. Books are very expensive and a familiar saying is “to lend a book is to lose a book” but this proved not to be the case in San Juan del Sur as our return rate is very high. Adults and children in the community were more than willing to return books because it meant they could check out a new one.

In 2014, the library outgrew its space moved one block to a much larger location. We now have more space for books, a large computer lab, a classroom, kitchen, patio, and two reading rooms. Our larger space allows us to provide more services to the community and plenty of room for learning and creativity. 

The library adopted an automated system for loaning books in February of 2014 thanks to our sister library, Poudre River Public Library District, in Fort Collins, Colorado. Both the public library and the mobile project are operating on this system and all of the books in our library have barcodes that we use to check books in and out. This system has helped us phase out our traditional paper circulation system and has made it much easier to keep track of the books we loan. Click here to search the catalog.