Sustainability and the Environment: "Meg's Internship Report"

My Month at the Biblioteca

During my semester abroad in Monteverde, Costa Rica, I had the opportunity to immerse in a month long internship with a local library. The Santa Elena Interactive Public Library (Biblioteca Pública Interactiva Santa Elena) is the first public library for the large town. It uniquely provides books in Spanish to adults and children with a small but growing collection of nonfiction and fiction genres. The library’s mission is to promote child and adult literacy in order to strengthen education; a more educated community is a more sustainable one. When I joined, the organization had just turned one year and, with any new organization, there was much work to be done. It was a small space, with a disorganized method of processing and shelving new books, and an outdated schedule managed by 6 volunteers. I had the privilege to learn alongside the library, to accomplish a number of projects, and by the end, feel inspired by community organizing.

My primary tasks as an Outreach and Volunteer Coordinating Intern were to spread awareness of the library’s services and to organize volunteers. I had previous experience in library management from working as a supervisor in my university library, and I hoped to share these organizational and training skills. I also hoped to develop new skills through speaking Spanish, conducting outreach on social media, and engaging with the community.

My completed projects for volunteer management included a Google Calendar system with instructions, a library e-mail account, and an eight page bilingual manual for reference. Halfway through my work, the library transitioned to a computer based system, so I assisted in training current and future volunteers. I felt most accomplished by my work in volunteer outreach. After designing a flyer, I uploaded its photo to numerous Facebook groups to spread the word of an April volunteer campaign. I was able to meet and train a few people and now the library can be open on Mondays. Other projects included expanding the library’s Facebook presence, designing library cards, and organizing shelves throughout the library.

My favorite, and most rewarding day was spent at a local public school where I introduced 3rd, 4th, and 6th graders to libraries. I designed bookmarks for the students that outlined how a library works, gave a 15 minute overview in Spanish of what a library offers, and brought books from our collection to show them. My local library had always been my favorite place growing up and I was happy to have possibly made other kids feel this way.

When I walked in my first day, I noticed a lot of problems, and planned how best to fix them. As the weeks went by, I noticed a growth in visitors and happily loaned books to over ten first time users. As much as I provided the library, it taught me. I improved my skills in working with people, engaged community members in a language other than my own, and learned the workings of small non-profit work. Long after I leave Monteverde, I will stay connected to the library.

Shelving a book in the newly organized non-fiction collection.

Teaching 3rd graders about the library during our presentation at the Cerro Plano Public School.