The library is a treasure

Miriam Argueta had just prepared and set our food for her husband and, as she passed the Henry Ortiz School Center, the principal stopped her. Juan de la Cruz Ramos Guevara invited her to participate in the ConTextos’ leadership training for the library. Miriam said yes, but she also said “if I like it I’ll stay, otherwise I’ll go”.

Ana Maricela Romeo was also invited by the director. Maricela walks one and a half kilometers to take her son to school. Juan de la Cruz suggested that she become a librarian’s assistant, so that she would not have to wait outside for her son until the end of school daily to go back home together.

Now these two moms are inseparable, they arrive every day at 7:30 a.m. to clean the library, tidy up the tables and at 8 o’clock they enthusiastically receive the first group of students who arrive to read.

The library is a treasure.

Some teachers tell their students that if they finish homework quickly they can go to the library, and then they hurry. “And the little ones - says Maricela - have a lot of fun and when the teachers tell them ‘let’s go to the library’, they feel wonderful”.

Miriam and Maricela have everything in order: they have already arranged the books by theme, the toys, and on the walls they posted the reading schedule for the different grades and small signs inviting everyone to read.

- Did you ever imagine being librarians?

- No, no, no, they respond laughing.

When it’s Friday and they know they don’t come back until Monday, Saturday and Sunday turn out to be very long days.

Walter Tadeo, Teacher