Can you guess the most important part of our budget?  If you are thinking, “of course the most important budget item is for books!” …guess again!Our most important expense doesn't have a title, publisher and card catalog number, but is a professional with a name!  Allow us to tell you about our gift from the reading gods, Marcela Felix.
At age 20, Marcela learned her most important life lesson. She befriended some people whose wealth of knowledge, positive attitudes, and sophisticated discussions awed her. The common element in their lives? A love of reading.
This experience led Marcela to begin reading for enjoyment, having grown up  in an environment where reading for pleasure wasn't done. Now she saw reading not as a chore but a passion, and felt compelled to bring the same excitement to others.
She pursued specialized training and experience and is now an esteemed member of a unique group of dedicated reading promotion professionals in Mexico who support each other, sharing tools, tips, and techniques.
Sound special?  She is.  Special and rare. We shake our heads in amazement that her path converged with that of Friends of the Library of Rosarito. She inspires hundreds of families in Rosarito to read, a habit that will provide opportunities throughout their lives. 
The stipends, for Marce our Program Coordinator and Jael our Bookmobile librarian, are now the biggest items in our budget. And they are by far our most effective expenditures. They make our success possible.

"WHAT HAPPENS IN OUR READING ROOMS LOOKS LIKE MAGIC"

• Girls and boys reading for pleasure.
• Families reading together.
• Children encouraging others to make their first visit to the library.

HOW IS IT POSSIBLE?

• Our love of reading is contagious.  We read, we play, we chat, and joyfully explore and share the books that move us the most. We show them reading is more fun than they ever could have imagined.
• From our actions, they see  our love of reading for pure enjoyment, which extends our learning and improves our lives
  

Our reading specialists are the heart and soul of our success. BUT THEIR WORK AND EXPERTISE IS NOT FREE. Each receives a monthly stipend for devoting themselves full time to our mission to make Rosarito a community of readers.
THEIR STIPENDS, for Marce our Program Coordinator and Jael our Bookmobile librarian, ARE NOW THE BIGGEST ITEMS IN OUR BUDGET.
And they are by far our most effective expenditures. They make our success possible.

FOL and  UABC COLLABORATE ON A SUMMER PROGRAM FOR CHILDREN
Our summer program in Rancho 40, a community we regularly serve, is at their “community center," in fact a centuries old oak tree. There, in one of Rosarito’s most remote communities, we started a 4-session summer program dedicated to dinosaurs, fossils and other prehistoric topics, in an interactive workshop along with our fabulous Bookmobile.  We are constantly creating bonds with local cultural and educational institutions, as well with community leaders, to accomplish these programs.
Thanks to our great volunteer team,and to all of our supporters, for making this happen. Read the article below from ECOS newspaper, translated from the Spanish.

Friends of the Library began the summer reading program called "Veranosaurio" [“Summersaurius Rex”] in the community of Rancho 40. It was the first session of a total of 4 sessions that FOL will carry out to promote reading, with the support of its bookmobile. During the first session, a professor from the Institute for Social Research and the Museum, part of the Autonomous University of Baja California (UABC), Marcos Jaramillo, participated. He spoke to the children of the importance of paleontologists, who discover everything that is known about dinosaurs. He urged the children to explore the clues about life on earth through reading, and thus get to know it better in order to preserve it. He also talks about what fossils are, what they are used for and their importance today. As part of the day’s activities, the children did field observation to discover clues that give current information about life on Earth; they excavated and found their own “fossils” of ammonites, dinosaur teeth and footprints, which they colored. To carry out this activity, FOL, in addition to sharing the books on dinosaurs already in its collection, acquired others to complement this “adventure into prehistory.” It should be noted that FOL has teamed up with a number of institutions and community leaders so that this type of program can come into various communities in Rosarito. This is the second time that they have brought a summer program to the Rancho 40 community located in the south of the municipality, thanks to the collaboration of volunteers and UABC.

From ECOSdeRosarito.com July 14, 2023. Translated from the original Spanish