Sister Cities Essex Haiti

When we first started researching and designing what is now the Bibliothèque Communautire Deschapelles, we hoped it could be a model for other libraries in rural areas. We worked hard to create a library with the amenities and resources familiar to us in the United States but also with the understanding that this would be a library for the rural community of Deschapelles where many spoke only Kreyol and attending school was a privilege. Our Library administrator, Besly Belizaire, was fortunate to attend a library training course given by FOKAL (the organization founded by the SOROS Foundation which provides support for libraries in Haiti).  The Bibliothèque Communautaire Deschapelles now has almost 5000 books many of them in Kreyol and French and programs which have a positive impact on the community including reading programs, digital learning, robotics, literacy, theater and arts. The staff, under the guidance of FOKAL, computerized the collection of books and systematized its membership and lending system essentially bypassing the old card catalogue system. It is one of the best libraries in rural Haiti and others are now looking to it as a model for their projects.

Recently, we were contacted by Sarah Mansbach, who is part of a South Carolina Rotary group that promotes literacy in Haiti, Partners in Literacy in Haiti (PILH), to see if we could help train the staff of two rural libraries which it supports. One of the libraries is in LaChapelles and one in Ravine Seche near Montrouis, both located in the Department of Artibonite.  Sarah and her colleague in Haiti, Micaelle Saint-Natus, in conversation with Jenifer Grant who had met Sarah when she ran a library in Cange, discussed how the staff of the Deschapelles library could help their staff cataloguing the collections in their libraries, advising how to engage kids in reading not only to learn but for pleasure, and providing them with information on some of the cultural initiatives at the BCD.

On November 2, 2020, the staff of the Deschapelles Community Library welcomed staff members from the two libraries to a three-day training seminar.   In the report provided by Besly Belizaire, the Deschapelles Library Administer, several speakers, including our librarians spoke on such topics such as:

1- Cataloguing (we use a software system called PMB)

2- Addressing the needs of children and young people in part by devoting a section of the library to children and young people

3- How to search for a book on the shelf. Specifically, explaining the different steps necessary to better search for a book

4- The classification of books and the Dewey Decimal System and why it is useful for organizing library resources

5- Circulation: ie distributing the library materials as efficiently as possible

6- Library programming, i.e. how to organize, plan and promote cultural activities at the library,

7- Reception and service: how to welcome users and enhance access to the various services offered by the library

8- Children’s literature, objective: Teaching librarians to distinguish the different types of children’s books, according to level, audience and presentation.

9- Record Keeping

Besly stated that both the BCD library staff and the participants in the seminars enjoyed the program and look forward to an additional seminar in the future.

While the Bibliothèque Communautaire Deschapelles is a larger, more established library and under the umbrella of FOKAL, the relationship established between the libraries could lead to collaboration in the future. We are proud that our staff was able to lead the training and it reflects their achievements since the library first opened. We expect that the training that they will receive during the upcoming Pro Lead Leadership Training will further enhance their capabilities

ETerryParkinson/Nov16/2020

In the last few months, the library has witnessed the installation of flushable toilets, a solar electrical system including a solar pump and is reviewing other maintenance needs. The solar system was installed with appreciation to local organizations and individuals including the Essex Rotary Club. A local rising high school senior raised funds for the solar pump by completing odd jobs for people.

During much of the last few months like many libraries in the U.S., the Bibliothèque Communautaire Deschapelles was closed due to COVID-19. The library is gradually reopening with Covid-19 protocols in place including the wearing of masks, social distancing and handwashing. These protocols are being implemented in coordination with FOKAL – the organization which provides funding as well as guidance for the library. Haiti was fortunate that the number of cases of the virus was relatively low.

Previously, before the government shut down most public institutions including schools, members of the library staff attended a conference on educational technologies and recently made repairs to their computers. There is always a need for additional laptops, tablets and computers as access to the internet for research and online educational programs as well as digital books is very popular.

During the pandemic, Head Librarian Besly Belizaire implemented a handwashing project throughout the community of Deschapelles. It was well received and reflects well on the library staff. And the library is gradually reopening with Covid-19 protocols in place including the wearing of masks, social distancing and handwashing.

Future projects include: expanding the digital library; creating a proactive mobile library with the lending of books to more remote parts of the community; continuing programs that have benefited the community including book clubs, computer courses, arts classes and programs on social and civic responsibility;  creating a community garden; and expanding space for more theatrical  and dance performances. The library will continue to host a very successful Robotics program that has won country-wide awards.

The Library is a valuable part of the community and through its programs is in the paraphrased words of André Miraklin, Cultural Mission Manager of the Deschapelles Community Library, “helping more people, contributing to the development of the community and motivating the human conscience”.  According to the BCD Library team in a report sent on May 12, “It is the only library in the department and the most renowned for its services, programs activities, and it is one of the best equipped libraries in the country”. FOKAL has praised it and given it a high rating. A recent report sent by Besly Belizaire described how students at the library had benefited from its resources and programs including recognition in Robotics and success in the theatrical and literary world.

Exciting news!  In March 2018, Club Robotic de Deschapelles won second prize in the country-wide Robotics First Lego Competition!  The competition took place in Cap Haitien, a long six-hour drive north from Deschapelles.  This is the first time the Deschapelles Robotics Club participated.  Last year, as they were beginning their club, they went as observers.  The team learned to program in August 2017 when three juniors at Valley Regoinal High School’s Robotics program, Patrick Myslik, Sam Paulson and Rocket Otte, spent a week working with the team along with their parents.  The competition was named “Hydro Dynamique” focusing on water problems, something very familiar to the Deschapelles team. Kudos to the team, to their coach, Deschapelles Community Library Administrator, Besly Belizaire, and many thanks to the members from Valley Regional High School and their parents who spent the week last summer in Deschapelles, getting them on the right track. For more information about the workshop in August 2017, click here.

The Deschapelles library is thriving. On a recent Saturday morning, we arrived to see one of the librarians, Pleurette, reading to a group of children asking them questions and showing them the pictures as she went along. The group then watched a children’s film in French. Around the same time, a group of students ranging in ages 10-16 gathered to discuss Robotics. We had brought down a new Lego kit and Google Chromebook to enable the Robotics Club to prepare for a robotics competition in Cap Haitian. (We always have overloaded suitcases when we travel to Deschapelles!) Under the direction of Besly Belizaire, the kids actively engaged in a discussion of what their team should be called (Club Robotique de Deschapelles), the color of their team (green for nature), a slogan (We make a difference) and a logo. They need a device that will enable to perform a task within a two-minute timeframe helping with a need for their community and they chose water. We also learned that another one of the other librarians Euliciane frequently hosts an arts and crafts workshop for children on a Saturday.

Activity at the library ebbed and flowed with some afternoons busier than others. Jenifer Grant gave a lecture on Albert Schweitzer and his philosophy which is integral to the spirit of the nearby Hospital  Albert Schweitzer. The students who attended asked some good questions. Another group had toured the library earlier in the day. Other students could be seen using the computers for research.

The library has almost 4,700 books already catalogued and will be adding to the collection with the books we brought from EducaVision (a publisher based in Florida which is a primary source of books in Kreyol). One concern is the longevity of the books given handling of paperbacks by many children but the staff takes care to clean the book shelves and the books. We are proud of the collection.

I had the opportunity to visit a local school with Pleurette and Euliciane. It was the first time they had visited the school and was part of an effort to encourage students to come to the library. Both librarians read to separate groups of children and encouraged feedback. In fact, the younger children danced with enthusiasm and the older groups engaged in educational singing/dancing activities. One group of children was allowed to choose a book to read and after reading it reported to Euliciane who noted down their names and the book they had read.

A group met at the library to discussion implementing a nutrition program. Attendees included Ferna Victor, the Head Nurse at HAS, Melissa Sannon from HAS Outreach Programs specifically trees, the library staff as well as the two of us. Everyone was excited about the idea of a program oriented towards teaching the community more about good nutrition as there has been increasing evidence of diet-related diseases in the community (malnutrition remains and sometimes is the result of poor eating habits as opposed to lack of food). The group will start  developing a program and reaching out into the community.  There was some discussion of creating raised-bed gardens, one with compost and one without.

As increasing patronage at the library is one of the goals and reaching out into the community is of mutual benefit, the librarians will continue to visit schools and encourage schools to visit the library but will also start visiting two of the health centers to read to the children. We also discussed ways to encourage people to get membership cards which are at most 100 Gourdes (US $1.55) for an adult and half that for children. It was suggested that membership on the library should be a requirement to use the internet.

We also met with the Conseil consisting of a group of ODES members, which was established much like Library’s Boards in the States, to provide oversight and guidance. We discussed needed maintenance at the library, on-going programs and capital improvement projects including implementing solar as our current electrical system needs to be upgraded.

FOKAL, the organization which provides oversight and some funding for the library has chosen the Bibliothèqu Communautaire Deschapelles as one of four libraries to install an upgraded computerized collection system. It will involve week-long training during which the library will be closed. It is exciting and a commendation for the library.

Word of the library has spread and we are now being visited by others who want to emulate what we have done. In the words of Albert Schweitzer

“Do something wonderful, people may imitate it.”

We are proud of the library and what many heads and hands working together have accomplished. We will continue to provide oversight, funding and encouragement but the foundation has been built and our future goal will be to strengthen and enhance the library as well as assisting the staff and the Conseil in administering and managing the library.

—Terry Parkinson
   Co-Chair, SCEH Library Committee
   January 23, 2018