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The Halloween Celebration
San Juan del Sur’s Halloween began at the SJDS Biblioteca early Halloween afternoon with face painting, treat bag making, costume creating and lending and a musical parade. The event co-sponsored with Communidad Connect drew a record crowd and had the group on parade, winding through the streets, stopping at selected shops to trick or treat and ending up at the Blue Marlin  for Pinata time. A photo album of the event can be see on our Facebook page: San Juan del Sur Biblioteca. Dont forget to “like” us when you go to the page. Most of the children participating have been working hard on their entries for the Anniversary contests  and the staff has been preparing for the Nov 12th anniversary event for weeks. This event was a nice break and served as a preview of the fun things to expect. Like the events on the 12th of November, to celebrate the library turning 10, the only thing needed to particpate in the Halloween parade was a library card in good standing with no overdue books! We have had a very good return rate of our books lately.
San Juan Del Sur Biblioteca Movil Celebrates 10th Anniversary Nov 12, 2011

This anniversary marks 10 years working in and serving the community of San Juan del Sur. We feel like our work is well received and useful. There is an impact study underway that we can share in our year end review. We are holding poetry contests, essay, and drawing contests which this year include contestants from the mobile schools. There is a new event as well, an art

exhibition of the works of students who participated in a six week course of enrichment art classes this spring with artist and teacher Suzi Holland. We are expecting over 500 children and adults to help us celebrate. Friends from ANIBIPA , Nicaragua’s Library Association will be joining us as dignataries to help give the prizes and a speech or two. All of the grass roots lending libraies we work with are also invited… Activites begin in the library at 9:00 with a craft event held as a gift to local teachers who particpate with us in the enrichment classes for preschool and grade school students in town and the teachers in schools visited by the mobile project. There wil be a short soccer tournament with trophys held then as well. Starting at 10:30, thirty six Lincoln Middle school students from Ft Collins, Colorado will offer crafts, face painting and reading activites in the park. This year the theme is Honoring the Past, Present and Future and there will be stories from each area with a memory book craft, a beading craft and endangered animal tin art crafts, all provided by the students and teachers of  Lincoln IB Middle School.
Every year on our anniversary, we initiate the Nicaragua Reads for the Record All Year in conjunction with the US Jumpstart Read for the Record program held on one day in October. This year, the book chosen is, Llama Llama Red Pajama and there will be readings and activites and even a cut out Baby LLama to take pictures with and share our adventures!  Annually we leave our hand prints in finger paint, have an hourly Pinata in the park and share games and races for prizes. At 2:00 there will be a dedication, awards for the best readers and the winners of the poetry, drawing and essay contests. A local teens dance troupe will offer us the gift of dance and of course there will be cake. Come join us if you can.
Our Annual British Petroleum Matching Funds Drive Has Begun!
We are coming up on our Anniversary time and have begun Our Annual British Petroleum Matching Funds Drive with Liam McDermott, our Fundraising Events Coordinator, and our good friend Craig Deaves, who is a British Petroleum employee. 2011 has been fun and a productive and exciting time so far. Our financial situation continues to be the one area of struggle for us. Our overhead costs remain at under 5% and we are working on ways to remedy our situation given the 55% shortfall in donations so far this year. We decided to wait and have just one fund raising campaign and timing it with the BP matching fund drive helps us maximize our contributions. The matching funds drive began on October 1st and will continue through the 30th of November to coincide with our Anniversary celebration on Nov 12th. The help you offer now doubles in value to us. Consider these ways to help: Write a check to HJH Program and mail to 1716 Del Norte, Loveland CO , 80538, or go on line to either of our web site pages shown below, go to the donations page and click on the Just Give button.  You can also go to Just Give at http://www.justgive.org/. We are listed there as a registered charity under the name Hester J. Hodgdon Libraries For All Program. Other ideas: A donation during the holiday season makes a great alternative gift. We are happy to send a gift notice to the recipient of your alternative gift as well as your donation receipt. Explore whether your company offers matching funds like Microsoft and Google. Consider making a pledge of a monthly or quarterly amount we can count on. If your skills include fund raising or you would be willing to ask friends on our behalf that would help us too, or share this email with a friend.
Mentoring and Outreach Increases: Report by Heather Caraway
A new school library was opened in the San Jorge/Rivas area, for K-6 grade. We will be able to service them monthly on the mobile project with the help of a small grant from Woodstock VT Rotary Club. It is a prototype addition and the 33rd school participating in the SJDS mobile program. Over 126 students have the opportunity to read for pleasure  and have access to  resources, references and text books. The picture above shows a class having chosen their books to borrow, read Rainbow fish and made their first craft ever; pairs of sparkly rainbow fish glasses.
The library staff has been busy helping set up several  new libraries this summer. We most recently helped Virginia, a teenage student  from Managua, start a lending library for her neighborhood. Virginia and her friend KJ from the United States are working together to make this library a reality. Virginia spent a day at the San Jun del Sur biblioteca and returned home with a better understanding of how a lending program can work, and with over 210 new books, games, puzzles and crafts funded by her friend KJ.  Virginia will be lending  books with her family’s help, out of her home to her community in Managua. We also had the honor of training staff and helping start a new library, community and computer  center in the Chureca- garbage dump-neighborhood in Managua built by Missionaries John and Wilma Hall. We logged in an incredible 700 plus new books, puzzles and games. This fabulous program feeds over 300 children each week and gives them hope in one of the poorest areas of Nicaragua. These and many more library and mobile project efforts could not be possible without the help from our volunteers and donors.  Thank you supporters and everyone who came through our doors this summer to volunteer. We could not have done it without you! Thank you.

ALA Poster Presentation and Panel Discussion Presenters:

Jane Mirandette of the HJH Program and Bill Cartwright of Riecken Foundation shared the two year collaboration between their organizations in the form of a poster and as part of an International Sustainable Libraries Panel Presentation. at the American Library Association’s  Annual Convention in New Orleans, held June 24-28, The poster, entitled “Sharing Our Strengthes: Exploring and Expanding the Impact of Successful Models of Sustainable International Library Programs”, can be viewed on our website www.librariesforall.org under the lending library programs for developing nations section. The poster and talk stemed from the work together both organizations have undertaken and the site visit made by the Honduaras and Guatemala based group leaders to San Juan del Sur to explore the lending library model and to share funding sources. We were well recieved andbothgroups had an opportunity to appreciate the bonds and commitments to literacy and develpopment that we all share
A Closing Note from Jane:
It is hard to believe we have been doing this for ten years. The years speed by but
watching the children mature and go on to the possibility of real futures thrills me. The continued enthusiasm for the library and all it offers keeps me in the moment  and engaged in the process as well. I
will fill you in a bit on our year and how our 10th anniversary celebration turns out in the next upcoming issue. Thank you everyone for your support and friendship and if you can help financially while our matching fund drive is ongoing this would be the best time and the most help of all.
Join me please, with the passion that’s needed to keep books in the hands of children and access to information available to everyone.
Safe travels always,
Jane
Jane Mirandette, President, HJH Program,
Director, San Juan del Sur Biblioteca Movi