Hester J. Hodgdon Libraries for All

Description

HJH Program a 501C3 charitable organization is the support arm of the San Juan del Sur Biblioteca Publica Y Movil, a thriving lending library and community center in the fishing village/seaside town of San Juan del Sur, Nicaragua. The library serves as a model of the lending mode of libraries and is a community center offering internet, study club facilities and text book access. We offer educational enrichment programs to preschoolers, English and computer classes and have a very active volunteer program focusing on the library, the mobile project and various orphanages and ecology projects such as water treatment, eco stoves and public health projects. Our program provides the venue of schools, colleges and universities in the US to offer both credit courses and volunteer programs for study abroad service learning programs. These courses allow volunteers to experience cultural, educational and political aspects of Nicaragua and offer classes and workshops in Nicaragua ranging from book fairs for children to workshops for adults . Lending is not a general practice in Central American Libraries and our Library in a Box Program mentors other groups wanting to start lending libraries, offers a 100 book seed collection and makes site visit to grass roots lending libraries in many parts of Nicaragua. We foster collaboration between educational and nonprofit groups offering programs throughout Central America and encourage volunteer participation in all aspects of our programs.