Yo Puedo Leer… “I Can Read”

Nicaraguan children don't read books for many reasons. Books are expensive, a high illiteracy rate prevents many parents from reading to their children, many children don’t attend school, and books are not affordable in schools either. It is a rare school that has a library or a reading program.

A partnering of Nicaraguan and international volunteers prompted donors to search for Spanish children's books in their countries, and finally Yo Puedo Leer took the road, delivering books weekly to elmentary classrooms.

As books made their debut in the public schools, enthusiasm passed from teacher to teacher and from teacher to student. For many of them, holding a quality children’s book was a first. Children began to look forward to stories being read to them, then asked to hold the books themselves. As splashes of color and bold graphics jumped from each page and the ability to read became a reality, a new world began to unfold.

From this successful program grew Granada’s first and only lending library, Biblioteca Puedo Leer, its shelves filled with children’s books and magazines, research and reference books for students and professionals, and a growing collection of foreign language books for all.

Workshops and programs invite professionals and parents to learn and discuss issues of importance to their fields or to their families.  Story hours at the library capture the attention of children who have found new adventure and new hope between book covers.