I.A.

Professor Denise Comer

English Composition I. Achieving Expertise
30 June 2014

Case of study Donkeys for a librarian re-evolution

Every Saturday at dawn, Mr. Luis Soriano, and his two donkeys Alfa and Beto, leaves
home loaded with 120 books toward the countryside to visit the children of peasants in
isolated areas with his books. His journey can exceed 8 hours of swollen rivers, poisonous
snakes and many other hazards such as guerrilla and paramilitary forces who are engaged in
combats once in a while (Romero, 2008). This teacher of the county of La Gloria is on a quest
to change the farmers lives.


Figure 1. Mr Luis Soriano and his Biblioburro
Source: Wikimedia Commons, 2014.

Facilitating access to books is considered an important way to reduce social exclusion
(OECD, 2002; Cunningham and Stanovich, 2010). Although many families can get books for
children at public libraries, access to these buildings is limited by residential patterns and
economic factors. Vulnerable groups such as low income families and people who live in rural
settings face difficulties to get access to books; computers arent always affordable due to
their low income and little access to electricity (Eberhart, 2006). This pattern is repeated in
Colombia (DANE, 2014a), where 64,3% of households doesnt have access to internet at
home, mostly due to poverty. This situation is even worse in rural areas, such as the County of
La Gloria where around 90,3% of the population is poor (DANE, 2014b).

Initiatives such as the one carried by Mr. Soriano receive the formal designation of
mobile libraries, which are defined as traveling or movable library in any format (Sujin, 2000).
The first bookmobile was created in Hagerstown (Maryland, USA) in 1905 and spread through
the world by the middle of the past century (Stringer, 2006). There is no restriction in the
transport system used to move books: cars, ships and even elephants are used. However, what
makes a mobile library a service delivered with expertise? And is the initiative of Mr. Soriano
delivered in that way? According to Mendez et al (2010) at least three characteristics are
commonly associated: appropriate logistics, collection of books and staff.

Logistics are about equipment of the mobile libraries, and being adapted to the users
needs. Transportation units should be reliable and hard to get damaged while being
driven from place to place, and if they get damaged they should be easy to repair.
Planning routes is absolutely essential; places ought to be important and easy to f ind
by the community, schedules must be conceived in ways that most of the users could
feel benefited by it.

The collection of books should aim to reflect the communitys need for recreation,
information, education and culture. It should have contents appropriate for different
ages if necessary, of general contents and specific topics. It is also important to look
for updated contents related to the interest of users.

Last but not least important is the ability to give personalized service, being trained not
only at preserving books but to give advice to people is an important quality.
Librarians must try to coordinate activities with teachers and cultural associations. Due
to the nature of the mobile libraries, interaction with users is extremely close; for
instance kindness and attentiveness are vital qualities.

Mr. Soriano started his labor in 1997, when as a teacher he noticed that his students from
rural areas had difficulties at doing homework because they did not have access to books or
computers to do them. He also noticed that the people who live farther had more difficulties to
have access to news since they dont have contact with road passerby. So he started to
question members of the community and he realized that the person with more books in the
town was him. He knew that children couldnt stay in the school after class to read because
they lived very far from there and they would be in danger wandering alone in the dark, and
they couldnt take the books to home because they were heavy. So he decided that he must be
the one visiting the small villages around La Gloria (Ayoka, 2009).

The most suitable option to transport books was his donkeys due to the poor conditions of
the roads at that time. He was convinced that knowledge was the key to abandon poverty and
to live in peace because he was a living proof of that, he was born in La Gloria in 1975 but had
to flee his hometown due to the armed conflict. Fortunately, he had friends, his books, so he
was able to endure, complete his university education successfully and become a teacher
(Ayoka, 2009).

He started this weekly ritual with 58 books, and two years later he was able to get some
support from local authorities and get more books, donations increased in the following years
as some journalists took notice of his work. Some international NGOs had helped him to get
donations. By 2010, he had over 5000 thousand books in the library collection. By 2012, a
group of citizens have become his apprentices and the donkey library became also a digital
library, he and his companions carry tablets and an internet reception antenna in the donkeys
back and go to the small villages to teach kids how to use computers and explore the internet
(Biblioburro sin Fronteras, 2013). Now Mr. Soriano directs the BiblioBurro Foundation.
More than 400 hundred people in La Gloria and 3000 people in the country are benefited by
this foundation (Universidad de Chile, 2012).

His work shows several features of what Mendes et al (2010) said his routes are trying to
visit the most abandoned places in the villages near La Gloria, he follows the same schedule
each week using the most reliable transport system available, his books are mostly childrens
books, therefore his collection tries to aim the needs of the community he even become a
digital librarian since computers are becoming more important-.
Some things might need some formalization such as the management and preservation of
book collections, scheduling, and coordination with cultural movements. However his
commitment through hardship overcompensate this flaws. First, he confronted guerilla
captains and bandits (Revista ARG Express, 2014). Then, two years ago he had to face a
difficult choice: lose his leg or stop working. He fell from his donkey during a rainstorm and
his donkey hit his leg and his injury became infected, doctors said to him that the only way to
save his leg was through several operations and a slow recovery, so he wouldnt be able to
work as a travelling librarian. He didnt hesitate, his leg was amputated. Prosthesis didnt
slowed him down from waking up at dawn to carry his donkeys, the computers and books
through thick and thin to visit the children; he says I came to this world to serve those little
citizens, thats my mission (Martinez, 2012).

It seems that the society of La Gloria is also affected Something quite unexpected
happened: the parents of many of these children became Luis students, their own kids taught
them to read and write (Secades, 2012). Biblioburro has increased the longing of a more
inclusive society (Aguilar, 2012). The selfless, tireless work of this expert teacher-librarian
might be a tool to create a pacific revolution, a social transformation for good. Shouldnt more
people try to imitate him?

References:
Aguilar. A. 2012. Representaciones sociales de fomento lector. Bibliomviles Rurales en Chile y
Biblioburro en Colombia. Retrieved from:
http://www.bibliobuses.com/documentos/AuraAguilar-%20Comunicaci%C3%B3n-1.pdf
Ayoka. 2019. Biblioburro- the donkey library. Retrieved from
http://www.ayokaproductions.org/content/biblioburro-donkey-library
Biblioburro sin Fronteras, 2013. Biblioburro digital. Retrieved from
http://biblioburrosinfronteras.blogspot.com/
Cunninghan, A. and K. Stanovich. 2010. What Reading Does for the Mind. Journal of Direct
Instruction, Vol. 1, No. 2, pp. 137149 Retrieved from.
http://www.csun.edu/~krowlands/Content/Academic_Resources/Reading/Useful%20Articles/C
unningham-What%20Reading%20Does%20for%20the%20Mind.pdf
DANE. 2014a. Indicadores Bsicos de TICs en hogares. Retrieved from
https://www.dane.gov.co/index.php/es/tecnologia-e-innovacion-alias/tecnologias-de-la-
informacion-y-las-comunicaciones-tic/65-economicas/tecnologias-de-informacion/4881-
tecnologias-de-la-informacion-y-las-comunicaciones
DANE. 2014b. Atlas estadstico de Colombia Retrieved from
http://sige.dane.gov.co/atlasestadistico/
DANE.2005. Mapas y estadstica. Retrieved from
http://www.dane.gov.co/appSIGE/indicadores/servicioMax.html?s=Pobreza_7&c=Estadisticas
Sociales&sc=PobrezayDesigualdad
Eberhart, G. 2006. The Whole Library Handbook 5: Current Data, Professional Advice, and
Curiosa About Libraries and Library Services. Chicago .. http://f3.tiera.ru/1/genesis/570-
574/571000/178bd2f5d1f102cb43662e8fee9de4ff
Martinez, L. 2012. La novela pica del Biblioburro y su amo Retrieved from
http://www.eltiempo.com/archivo/documento/CMS-12245800
MNDEZ, A., J. Freire, M. Garca, C Daz, L. Domingo, J. Maraa, M. Pastor, S. Rodrguez,
M. Snchez. 2013. "Bibliobuses Marcamos la diferencia?. Anlisis de resultados" En:
Congreso Nacional de Bibliotecas Mviles (6. 2013. Burgos Retrieved from
http://www.bibliobuses.com/documentos/BIBLIOBUSES.%20MARCAMOS%20LA%20DIFE
RENCIA.pdf
OECD. 2002. Reading for Change: Performance and Engagement Across Countries. Retrieved
from
http://www.oecd.org/education/school/programmeforinternat ionalstudentassessmentpisa/3369
0986.pdf
Revista ARG Express. 2014. Biblioburro: un Quijote en Colombia. Retrieved from:
http://blogargexpress.blogspot.com/2014/05/biblioburro-un-quijote-en-colombia.html
Romero. S. 2008. Acclaimed Colombian Institution Has 4,800 Books and 10 Legs. Retrieved
from http://www.nytimes.com/2008/10/20/world/americas/20burro.html?_r=0
Secades, C. Biblioburro, knowledge on the back of a donkey. Retrieved from
http://www.elesapiens.com/biblioburro-knowledge-on-the-back-of-a-donkey&
Stringer, I. Mobile Library Guidelines. Retrieved from
http://www.ifla.org/files/assets/hq/publications/professional-report/123.pdf
Sujin. B. 2000. Reaching out through a Mobile Library. Retrieved
from http://files.eric.ed.gov/fulltext/ED450740.pdf
Universidad de Chile. 2012. La visita del quijote colombiano Retrieved from
http://vidauniversitaria.uc.cl/novatos/content/view/160/104/

Referenced image:
Biblioburro. 2014. Biblioburro. Retrieved from:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Biblioburro#mediaviewer/File:Biblioburro.jpg

Websites of Biblioburro
http://biblioburro.blogspot.com/
https://www.facebook.com/BiblioburroFoundation