4.5 Eliminate all discrimination in education.
4.6 Universal literacy and numeracy.
4.7 Education for sustainable development and global citizenship.

The Rural Library Network continues to update and reprint its 20-volume Enciclopedia Campesina. The collection, which gathers stories and knowledge from across the mountainous region surrounding the town of Cajamarca, is the cornerstone of the network’s literacy program.

Rural librarians in nearly 400 remote communities keep the books in their homes both to lend to community members and to use to lead reading circles. The network also distributes to a growing number of school libraries. Librarians in the network encourage young readers to read aloud to elders, who are often illiterate, and elders are invited to share their wisdom with children and youth at the different schools and libraries where the Rural Library Network is active.

The revised edition includes new stories and knowledge drawn from communities that have joined the network since the last edition was published. This project will finance the production of volumes 10 through 13. Five hundred copies of each title will then be printed and distributed.

4.5 Eliminate all discrimination in education.
4.6 Universal literacy and numeracy.
4.7 Education for sustainable development and global citizenship.

With travel restrictions lifted in mid-2021, the Rural Library Network again took up its work to update and reprint its 20-volume Enciclopedia Campesina. The collection, which gathers stories and knowledge from across the mountainous region surrounding the town of Cajamarca, is the cornerstone of the network’s literacy program.

Rural librarians keep the books in their homes both to lend to community members and to use to lead reading circles. The network also distributes to a growing number of school libraries. During COVID-19 lockdowns, small family libraries were developed as another way to reach readers and encourage reading.

The revised edition includes new stories and knowledge drawn from communities that have joined the network since the last edition was published. This project financed the production of volumes 5 through 9. Five hundred copies of each title were then distributed to nearly 400 remote rural libraries and 20 schools. A new initiative encourages young readers to read aloud to elders, who are often illiterate. At the same time elders are invited to share their wisdom with children and youth at the different schools and libraries where the Rural Library Network is active.

Heart-Links is grateful to Strathroy Rotary for their support of this project.

4.5 Eliminate all discrimination in education.
4.6 Universal literacy and numeracy.
4.7 Education for sustainable development and global citizenship.

“Reading is like food for the mind. I had never read, for example, José María Arguedas or Nelson Mandela, from another part of the world . . . For me, Rural Libraries showed me that we have to fight for inclusion and try to help each other and by doing so we can recover our culture, which has been taken from us.”
—Javier Huamán

Javier Huamán is now coordinator general of the Rural Libraries Network.

This two-year project initially provided funding to print 1000 copies of a revised edition of each of first 8 titles of the Enciclopedia Campesina. The Enciclopedia is a collection of 20 volumes that gathers stories and knowledge from across the mountainous region surrounding the town of Cajamarca. It is the cornerstone of the Rural Library Network’s literacy program.

With the advent of COVID-19, the project underwent several changes. With printer and distribution channels shut down for most of 2020 and into 2021, the Network decided to reduce the number of copies printed to 500 copies of each of the first 5 volumes and focus on building their digital library. They have also provided rural librarians with cell phones to facilitate communication and support.

Using the Rural Library Network’s publications, members of almost 400 remote Indigenous communities help each other learn to read and write in small informal settings and reading circles. These exchanges foster self-esteem, revitalize cultural traditions and build community—between young and old and between different communities.