Libros for Learning is a 501c3 tax deductible organization dedicated to building children's libraries in the Cabo Corrientes area of Mexico, just south of Puerto Vallarta, Jalisco.
Schools in rural Mexico work hard to deliver quality education, but struggle against some built-in challenges.
A typical rural school consists of a single room building filled with over 30 children ages 5-15 and a single teacher.
These schools lack many basic resources for their students, including pencils and paper, crayons and notebooks. Most importantly they lack books!
Our mission is to build as many libraries as we can to the rural children of Mexico.
A typical library we assemble consists of 200 - 300 books varying in reading level and subject. The books are engaging and educational as well as some storybooks with illustrations for the younger readers.
Each library costs approximately $1,000 to purchase, package and deliver to its school. We work with the local educational administration as well as with other service organizations and NGO’s in the area.
Educators agree that a sound education is rooted in the availability of books. Children are created equal, but not all are provided the same resources. These children in rural Mexico can succeed in their current situation if they are provided access to knowledge.
Dr. Glenn Baron is a fifth grade teacher at Kensington Elementary in Waxhaw, N.C. and is our organizer for "Libros for Learning."
In our first years of existence we have bought and delivered more than two dozen libraries and look forward to providing many dozens more.
• Mexico is a 95% literate society, but for most students, the literacy level stops at about 5th grade.
• Two-thirds of Mexican families have no books in the home.
• Children who read at home become better readers AND better at math.
• Success as a reader correlates closely with the number of books available to a student.
What does Libros for Learning do?
We deliver classroom libraries of 200 to 300 books to rural schools. The books are high interest books matched to the reading levels of the students.
A catalogue/check out system allows students to take books home to read.
Have a Library Named After You
Make a tax-deductible donation and have a library named after you or a loved one!
Teachers! Think about a service project
Classes from first grade through high school have learned about schools in Mexico and have helped out through donations of books and funds. "Club Leo" at Scholastic Books is an easy way to buy Spanish-language children's books. We can send a Powerpoint to help you make an educational presentation to your students.
Send Your Donations to:
Libros for Learning
7614 Sims Rd.
Waxhaw, N.C. 28173
Or donate directly through PayPal above.
Call us for more information: (704) 562-4596
Last updated: August 18, 2017 · Charity ID: 610
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20Dec2012 | Photo Journey of Libros for Learning Vallarta Visit Libros for Learning The reason this project started is because of the meager libraries available to the kids in the rural schools in Cabo Corrientes, just south of Puerto Vallarta. Read about our success stories from our recent visit. |
13Sep2017 | Turkey Opens New Libraries in Poor Towns in Mexico Anadolu Agency Turkey’s state aid agency has established eight new libraries in Mexico, in one of two poor states recently hit by a powerful earthquake. |
02Sep2017 | Why These Mexican Writers Are Ditching Spanish for Indigenous Languages OZY For hundreds of years, the literature written in languages that existed before European colonization were all but silenced on the global scene — even though they were well-recognized by many Mexicans. Now, interest in this writing is surging worldwide. |
31Jul2017 | ’Valentina & Her Magic Crayons’ Against Child Abuse El Universal The Studies Center for the Advancement of Women and Gender Equality in Mexico, part of the Chamber of Deputies, presented the book “Valentina and her Magic Crayons”, with the objective of preventing child sexual abuse. |
06Jul2017 | Migrant Comic Book Tells Stories of Those Who Cross US-Mexico Border Arizona Public Media The Kino Border Initiative of Nogales, Sonora, and the Hope Border Institute have partnered with an illustrator and a social-justice author to create a comic book made up of true stories of immigrants seeking to enter the United States. |
19May2017 | Stories of Famous Mexican Author Being Carted Around the Land of His Birth teleSUR A schoolteacher driving an old car is carting the stories of a famous Mexican writer around the farms and villages of Jalisco, with the intention of paying homage to the author in the land of his birth while raising people’s enthusiasm about reading his works. |
10Oct2016 | Revelations of the Americas Before Columbus Arrived Amazon.com Originally published in 2005, Mann’s book "1491" is still essential reading for anyone seeking to understand the expansive, teeming realities of the human experience in North and South America before Columbus arrived. |
15Aug2016 | Army Behind Mexico's Iguala Missing Students Case, Journalist Says Agencia EFE Authors' say the army was behind the disappearances of 43 education students two years ago, with the likely knowledge of President Enrique Pena Nieto, highlighting the network of corruption that ties together those who hold power in Mexico. |
05Aug2016 | MUCA's 'Ghost Walker' Project Seeks to Uncover Part of Mexico City's Past The News The collaborative book and exhibit presented at MUCA reveals the past geographies of the Juárez and Cuauhtémoc neighborhoods. |
01Aug2016 | Hilarious Summaries of Classic Novels? There's a Comic for That Upworthy There are few things in life as relaxing as cuddling up with a good book. And it's even better with a classic novel, right? But classics can sometimes be ... kind of funny. |
27Jul2016 | The Glory of Rapping for Writer Miguel de Cervantes The New York Times “Rap in Cervantes” is among the innovative celebrations being held this year to mark the 400th anniversary of the death of Cervantes. |
11Jun2016 | 'Dancing with the Tiger': Expat Lili Wright's New Novel Set in Mexico Amazon.com A rollicking combination of art and archeology, forgeries, drug deals, and tourists, Montezuma, murder, and love, "Dancing with the Tiger" is smart, sexy, and extremely suspenseful. |
04Jun2016 | A Bookmobile Transports Wisdom to Mexico's Children CCTV America A Mexican man is turning a popular transportation vehicle into a mobile library. Created by Rodrigo Vasquez and his organization “Bico Yubo,” the vehicle is called the “Nomad.” |
26May2016 | This Free App Encourages Mexican Kids to Read Before They Play on Their Smart Device Creativity to encourage children to read in Mexico, where literacy rates are low, educational organization Cengage developed an app that ensures they get in some valuable reading time as well as playing their games. |
31Mar2016 | More Reading Occurs in Mexico Than People Think Agencia EFE More reading takes place in Mexico than is commonly believed, a prominent author told EFE, pointing to a well-attended giant bargain sale in the capital as evidence. |
11Mar2016 | Trilogy for Popular Mexican Love Story 'Like Water for Chocolate' in the Works Fox News Latino Laura Esquivel is working on a trilogy based on her popular novel, that was a love story told through food and cooking that quickly became an international classic. |
01Mar2016 | Pope Francis Answers Kids' Tough Questions in First Book for Children Reuters Pope Francis, who has penned weighty encyclicals and decrees, has taken a stab at the simpler side of his job with a book for children to answer such questions as "What did God do before the world was made?" |
25Jan2016 | Los Cuarenta Tres: New Book Remembers Victims of Mexico Massacre Vatican Radio A book just unveiled by 52 Mexican authors about the massacre of 43 student teachers, has been created as a memorial, with a message urging Mexico and the World to remember the tragedy and not to be indifferent. |
19Jan2016 | Bookstore Challenges 'Narco Culture' in Hotbed of Mexico's Drug War The Guardian Arts center in city of Apatzingan, where law is not enforced and basic services are patchy, is promoting literature and dance in the hopes of preventing crime. |
02Dec2015 | Green Libraries! Turn Oaxaca's Garbage Into Hope Sikandachannel Si-Kanda wants to provide children and youth who attend underprivileged public schools in the area surrounding the largest landfill in the state of Oaxaca, with decent, active and transformative school libraries built with a certified technique using recycled materials. |
01Dec2015 | John Irving Tells the Story of a Mexican 'Dump Kid' Who Learns to Read Off The Shelf Novelist John Irving, author 'A Prayer for Owen Meany' and 'The World According to Garp', discusses Juan Diego, the lead character in 'Avenue of Mysteries' who is a self-taught reader raised in one of Mexico’s dumps. |
19Oct2015 | International Book Fair in Mexico City Brings the Love of Reading to Thousands teleSUR With over 700 publishers, the International Book Fair in Mexico City brings the love of reading to thousands of enthusiastic citizens in the course of a week. |
29Sep2015 | Ron Jackson's 'Love Redemption Tacos and Tortillas' Amazon.com Come, meet Salvador and Maria, Salvador the story teller, Maria the mother and cook, Salvador the man, now sober for over 20 years, the man, who after reading his story, will leave you wondering why he is not dead. |
13Sep2015 | Bilingual Spanish-Mayan Mexico Constitution Translation Completed After 2 Years teleSUR A bilingual Spanish-Mayan version of the Mexico's Constitution is ready to be presented, after years of work on the translation. |
04Aug2015 | Mexican Child Author Promotes Gender Equality Agencia EFE Mexican writer Fernanda Gonzalez is just 11, but she lectures at schools and universities, has addressed lawmakers and has been nominated for an international award, thanks to a book she wrote with a message of equality between men and women. |
01Jul2015 | Five Million Mexicans Over 15 Years Old Are Illiterate Prensa Latina Five million Mexicans over 15 years old cannot read or write, figures released by the National Institute for Adult Education show. |
22May2015 | This Mexican Author Says Languages Are Tools to Start a Bilingual Conversation WLRN.org Betto Arcos caught up with writer and professor Cristina Rivera Garza, and asked her what it's like being a published author in two languages, and how living on both sides of the border has affected her work. |
22Apr2015 | UNESCO: More Than Five Million Mexicans Are Illiterate The News This historical lag is not unique to Mexico. There are 793 million people worldwide who don’t know how to read and write. Most of them are in Asia and Africa, but Latin America also has a significant number. |
16Apr2015 | A Mexican University Wants to Promote Reading Through Grinding and Twerking Fusion Mexico’s National Autonomous University has launched a campaign encouraging Mexican youth to read by equating perreo, or grinding, with a good book. |
13Apr2015 | Garcia Marquez Tops Best-Selling Authors in Mexico Prensa Latina The Colombian writer Gabriel Garcia Marquez leads this week's list of the 10 best-selling authors in Mexico, with his novel 'One Hundred Years of Solitude.' |
01Apr2015 | 'Destino' Tells What It's Like to Ride the 'Train of Death' in Mexico Amazon.com In 'Destino,' Michelle Frankfurter seeks to capture the experience of people who struggle to control their own destiny when confronted by extreme circumstances. |
02Mar2015 | On Coming to America: Novel 'The Same Sky' Tells the Story of Immigrants Amazon.com From the acclaimed author of 'How to Be Lost and Close Your Eyes' comes a beautiful and heartrending novel about motherhood, resilience, and faith - a ripped-from-the-headlines story of two families on both sides of the American border. |
18Feb2015 | Contemporary Codex 'Migrant' Teaches Children About Mexican Migration Hyperallergic A Mexican boy tells of his journey to the U.S. with his family. The narrative is accompanied by one long, beautifully vivid illustration reminiscent of pre-Hispanic codices, packaged as an accordion-style foldout frieze. |
07Feb2015 | Hay Festival Abandons Veracruz, Will be Held Online The Guardian A popular literary festival is abandoning its venue in Mexico’s Veracruz state this year due to protest over the killings of journalists. |
07Aug2014 | Something Needs to Be Done About Mexico's Empty Libraries, Says Expert Mexico News Daily An ambitious program introduced in 1984 has resulted in Mexico having the largest public library system in Latin America. Each state capital has a public library, as does every town with more than 5,000 people. But they’re not very useful when empty. |
26May2014 | Story Time From Space: Astronauts Are Getting Kids Excited About Science Kickstarter Astronauts onboard the space station are reading books to the children of Earth, and conducting exciting science experiments. |
26Apr2014 | UNESCO: On World Book Day, Mexico Ranks Second to Last in Reading The Mazatlan Messenger During this week's celebration of World Book Day, the light shining on Mexico was not favorable. According to UNESCO, globally Mexico ranks 107 out of 108 countries in the organization's Reading Index. |
20Mar2014 | Free Zapatista Textbook Now Available in English IC Magazine Put on your thinking caps because the first of four Zapatista textbooks from last year's widely popular 'Little School' have been translated to English. |
09Nov2013 | International Fair of Children and Youth Literature Opens in Mexico Prensa Latina Children and young Mexicans will be offered more than 120 new books and interesting panels and educational projects, with the opening of 33rd International Fair of Literature for Children and Young People. |
31Oct2013 | Judy Goldman's Whiskers, Tails & Wings: Animal Folktales from Mexico ChicagoNow Author Judy Goldman takes animal folktales from five indigenous peoples of Mexico and retells them in a what that makes you feel like you've known the story all your life. |
27Oct2013 | Mexico City 13th International Book Fair Attracts 800,000 Visitors EFE Some 800,000 people visited the 13th annual International Book Fair in the Mexican capital and enjoyed the activities organized by publishing houses in which some 200 writers took part, the capital's government said Saturday. |
20Oct2013 | Neil deGrasse Tyson: Want Scientifically Literate Children? Get Out of Their Way. Big Think I'm often asked by parents what advice can I give them to help get kids interested in science? And I have only one bit of advice. Get out of their way. Kids are born curious. Period. |
04Oct2013 | Among World's Least Prolific Readers, Mexico Aims to Reverse Waning Reading Habit Al Jazeera Mexicans rank amongst the world's least prolific readers but amongst the most avid television viewers. However, some people are dedicated to reversing this trend. |
29Aug2013 | Amazon Launches Mexico Kindle Store with 70,000 eBooks in Spanish Business Wire Amazon has launched the Mexico Kindle Store, offering Mexican customers the largest selection of the most popular eBooks, the most Spanish-language best sellers, over 1,500 free books in Spanish and a broad selection of titles from leading Mexican authors and publishers. |
11Aug2013 | True Stories of Love Across America's Borders Amazon.com Amor and Exile is the story of American citizens who fall in love with undocumented immigrants only to find themselves trapped in a legal labyrinth, stymied by their country's de facto exclusion of their partners. |
01Aug2013 | The Writing on Mexican Walls Isn't Graffiti - It's 'Vernacular Branding' The Atlantic A new book by Patricia Cue documents the tradition, commerce, and politics of colorful bardas de baile (loosely translated as "music walls"). |
20Jul2013 | Top 8 Latino Writers You Should Know About VOXXI Latinos and writing are a couple made in heaven. Their passion and heritage provide for fantastic literary universes once and again recognized worldwide. These eight are perhaps the creme de la creme of Latino writers - ever. |
25Apr2013 | National Reading Survey Says Mexico is Second to Last in Reading Among 108 Countries Proceso Mexicans read an average of 2.8 books a year, and only 2% of the population has the lifelong habit of reading, while in Spain people read 7.5 books a year and in Germany it is 12. |
20Apr2013 | With Release of 'Rastros,' Mexican Poet Javier Sicilia Retires From Literary Work Milenio In January of 2014, the book of poems titled "Rastros" ("Traces") will be released in Spanish. It is a book the poet Javier Sicilia dedicated to his son, who died a victim of violence. With its publication, Javier Sicilia will permanently retire from literary work. |
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