Sowing Letters, Cultivating Autonomy: UnitierraPuebla Community Libraries Project
Delivering the books is a true celebration of solidarity.
A hug of letters
“Many small people, in their small places, doing small things, can change the world.”
Eduardo Galeano
We, at UnitierraPuebla believe that in printed books, those small cultural artifacts that some people consider obsolete and cumbersome today, it’s possible to find – still – the voices from different ancestral wisdom traditions that enrich and open for us paths of dignity and autonomy. We still trust that it’s possible to change the world with small actions like recollecting used books to create small communitarian libraries.
Our project is the fruit of the collaboration of many people that lovingly donate good books. It’s a weaving of hope.
We started in January 2020 with the first communitarian library at the town of Tacopan, in the Sierra Norte of Puebla. We traveled with 42 boxes filled with donated books, school material and toys. Cafe12 at Cholula supported us by receiving donations. That’s how this loving way of asking for books in the web, with friends, colleagues, students, neighbors and even institutions like the ITESM, the Lafragua Library and the BUAP.
The work of collecting, selecting, loading and delivering, notwithstanding the pandemic has been done and it’s still done with much joy. We are a loving bridge made by words and letters.
Up to now we have opened communitarian libraries in Tacopan, Huehuetla and Jonotla; we delivered books to the Casa de los Pueblos in the town of Juan C. Bonilla, a rebel community fighting for their water being dispossessed by Bonafont; we also delivered books to the migrant’s house of La Sagrada Familia in Apizaco, Tlaxcala and just yesterday we opened another beautiful library in San Mateo Mendizabal, Amozoc, Puebla, where a collective of brave women and men that take care of the land and the hearts of the young received us. The Woodcock School donated 1,345 books for the San Mateo’s community library.
Handing out the books is a real party of solidarity. A hug of letters.
The work of taking care of the books belongs to the communities because we think that this is how autonomy is sown and we contribute to the construction of other worlds that are kinder and more just.
The donors list is long and beautiful. Books of different subjects have been shared with us: History, Literature, Philosophy, Art, Science, Psychology, Law, Medicine, Cooking, Engineering, Economy, English, Ecology, Encyclopedias, Ecology, Grammar, Arithmetic and a big handful of beautiful story books for children.
We ask for donations tirelessly because we keep betting on the generosity of the people that hearing about this will give us the books they don’t use and on the communities that open their hearts to receive these gifts, because we know that very soon these books will be brought to life by the hands and the curious eyes of the children, young people and many others with the urge to learn and keep on knitting their hope.
Thanks to all who donated books. Thanks to all the book gatherers. Thanks to the communities that receive and take care of the books. Thanks to Lucia who constantly asks for and gets books …
“Books printed on paper make people connect with each other; they change hands. As long as there is the need to find other hands, there will be printed books. The most important thing about books are the hands that deliver them.” Juan Villoro, Conferencia sobre la lluvia
Project: Lucía Rodríguez Zeledón and Cecilia Zeledón
UNIVERSIDAD DE LA TIERRA EN PUEBLA, A.C
If you wish to donate and support this effort, please contact: cecilia.zeledon@gmail.com.