Library Update 1

Plans for the library are starting out slowly, but I wanted to update you on where things are at so far.
1) Illiteracy in Guatemala is worse than the statistics allude to. Apparently one department (province) recently declared themselves 100% literate. BUT, I also found out this only means that they can sign their name! When the stats say 27% of the adult population is illiterate, please define literacy.
2) Because of the corruption in the country, it is easier and cheaper to get a photocopy of a book than get a real book. For example, a university professor might show his class the assigned book to read for that class, and then tell them to take it and photocopy it. Therefore, books are extremely hard to find in this country.
3) The word for Bookstore in Spanish is Libreria. I'm finding out that Libreria really means stationery store. They might sell blank noteboks, but no books to read.
4) Because literacy is low and books are few, people do not value reading. For example, in a class of teachers, not a single one raised their hand saying they like reading. If they don't, will their students? This class was told to read a novel. As soon as they were allowed, they all ran to the front...to grab the thinnest book.
5) The postal system is corrupt; therefore, we do not trust any packages to arrive that are of any value. If a package looks interesting, the postal workers will open it and keep it for themselves. We are also still working on an address where something could be sent to here. Most Guatemalans have no need for the postal service, and so have no need for a mailing address.
6) The start of school is always a busy time, therefore less time has gone into this than I had hoped. There are also things to work out with me getting settled into living here.
For these reasons, not much has been done yet for the library. But know that we are thinking about things and trying to sort out the best way to work this.
Now, I want to warn you of stereotyping all Guatemalans as corrupt. They are not all this way. I also want to remind you that we, as North Americans, have our own ways of cheating the system, and we need to be careful not to think of ourselves as better than they are. Compare photocopying a book to pirating a CD or DVD. Please be careful before judging the Guatemalans too harshly for their actions. In a society where children starve and people die for lack of simple medicine, who can blame the postal workers for taking what they can get? All this to say, we are figuring out how to best work with the system that there is. And I will let you know when things progress further. If you have any suggestions, they would be greatly appreciated. Thanks.