La Alegría
Biblioteca
Member of the National Library Network of Colombia
On Colombia's Atlantic coast is Santiago de Tolú, a municipality founded almost 500 years ago by the Spanish. Five kilometers from the town center, in a rural area, lies El Francés Beach, a tourist destination populated by 170 families of African descent, mostly fishermen.
The peaceful life deteriorated with the arrival of industries that affected fishing and the emergence of illegal groups that recruited young people. Girls were forcibly removed from their homes for the pleasure of drug traffickers.
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Years ago, very few natives attended school, and almost none could read. In 2000, the transformation of El Francés began. Carmen Antonia Ozuna, a native housewife who could read, received a collection of one hundred carefully selected books for children and young adults. Each book had a handmade code and a loan form. The commitment was to read stories to the native children once a week and lend the books to their homes. The library operated out of Carmen Antonia's home for eight years. In 2008, the owners of the holiday homes built the current library.
The library feels responsible for adhering to the guidelines of the United Nations (UN) Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and the principles of Green & Blue Growth by creating a Science and Humanities Club for young people.
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Biblioteca La Alegría is a community, non-profit library.
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Although El Francés beach has experienced periods of violence, it is now a land of peace, free of criminals and drug addicts.
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The library promotes values such as respect for the property of others, environmental conservation, and cleanliness of the surroundings.
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The library is based on trust, emphasizing that, just as books, equipment, furniture, and facilities are lent, the keys are passed from hand to hand.
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Children attend grades appropriate for their age, and young adults pursue technical and university studies. If 21 years ago young people couldn't read, today they make informed decisions and freely seek alternatives to improve their families' quality of life.
To prevent the loss and forgetting of ancestral traditions and stories, the library invites elders to share their experiences with younger generations so they can learn about their community's past.
The library is the only meeting place for the natives of El Francés. Children and young people gather there to learn how to be readers and citizens, as well as mothers, fishing associations, medical teams, and tourists. Various types of training are offered at the library.
The children's collection is of high quality, donated by publishers, friends of the library, institutions, and tourists. Particularly noteworthy are the collections donated by the Ministry of Culture, the Ministry of Education, the Bank of the Republic, the Cuatrogatos Foundation, Barcelona Youth Publishing House, Alianza Publishing House, and Panamericana Publishing House.
Biblioteca La Alegría. Open-door meeting place in Colombia - Official blog of the AECID Library (Spanish Agency for International Development Cooperation) - 2024