How does she do it?

I am talking about Blanca Esquina, the fiery librarian in Chicacao who works tirelessly to help the children in her community receive an education. The library has more than 1,500 users a month. At times it overflows with students, and many wait outside until there is space available for them to come inside.

In addition to helping students in the library, Blanca supervises five students who have received Child Aid scholarships and offer their support when the library is busiest. Blanca visits eight schools every week to promote reading in various classes; she has a weekly program for 14 three- to four-year-olds whose parents bring them to the library to introduce them to reading at an early age. This month, on top of everything else, she even organized a celebration for International Book Day. She has activities planned in the central plaza that will highlight reading, recognize a teacher for promoting reading in the classroom, and even has relay races planned using books to pass between teams of families and teachers.

Blanca loves what she gets to do every day. I asked her where she gets her energy and she responded by telling me that when she goes home she is spent. Her daughter will ask her what she wants for dinner and Blanca replies by saying “I am not hungry, I have been eating books all day”. What a spirit!

One thing that keeps pushing Blanca is the dream to see more kids go to college. She knows that the only way for the children of Chicacao to have a better life is to get an education, and she knows that reading and a well-functioning library is a key to success for these kids.

Seeing the library brimming with kids, I asked Blanca if there were any developments on getting a bigger space. (The current library, which Child Aid helped Blanca and the library committee create, is already bigger than the original library and has become so popular that even more space is needed!) She told me that several parents are forming a Parent Committee because they see the need for more space and they are going to meet with the mayor to demand he give them property to build a larger library. She says the mayor will ask how they will build it, and her response was: “If they get the property, the community and others will come around and build the library themselves.”

Blanca lives a life of fulfilled dreams and knows that the secret to a life well lived is a life given in service to her community. That is what keeps her going.