The building
The construction of the library began on September the 30th with the delivery of the first round of materials, right after signing the agreement between the Municipality, the Community and Riecken. Almost a month later the building is about 35% completed. The community has been very active raising funds to cover the 20% of the construction cost, as agreed during the selection process and stated in the agreement, and it has been a big challenge for them. Their fundraising efforts have been addressed to community teachers, parents, local businesses and a couple of international organizations.
During the first week of November we will provide the second payment so that they can make the second purchase that will include materials for windows, doors and electrical accessories.
Training
From the middle of September to date we have organized three workshops to train the members or the community committee. Topics include: Transparency and Riecken’s values, accounting systems, Modern Community Libraries, Roles and Responsibilities of the committee members, Process of selecting library Board Members and Librarians.
The process of selecting two librarians has started and we expect to have final candidates by the end of November. The first week of December we will begin the training of the selected librarians.
Next steps
The construction and training process is going as planned so that the library will be ready for inauguration in late February 2014. During November/December we will begin to deal with publishing houses and technology providers so that in January we will have the book’s collection and technology equipment ready to be delivered to the library building, which will be ready the second week of January, according to the construction schedule.