The John B. McGrath Library in Honduras

Dear friends,

In an ever more divided and conflictive world, libraries are crucial spaces of learning, inclusivity, and community engagement. Or in the words of writer Stuart Dybek, they are “where place and possibility meet.”

I am writing this from El Progreso, a city near Honduras’ north coast, looking out my window onto an array of tin-roofed houses and tangled electric wires stretching to the nearby hills. More than half of Honduras’ population live in poverty, and 75% of ten year olds cannot read and understand a simple text by the end of primary school. This has drastic implications for young people to succeed in education, and in their lives. It is also the reason why the John B. McGrath library is a project of such incredible value and potential.

I am a big believer in the power of community-driven development: listening to local community members, ensuring local leadership, and especially promoting the inclusion of young people as leaders. This project is being carried out in partnership between educate., the NGO I co-lead here in Honduras, and Organization for Youth Empowerment (OYE), an extraordinary organization that I have worked with and had the privilege of learning from over recent years. We share a belief in the crucial importance of education for long-term sustainable development, and a belief in young people’s potential to drive change.

Together, we have secured a space for the John B. McGrath library in the centre of El Progreso, a perfect location for young people to easily and safely access. Over the past three months we have been working with a young local architect who has been supporting us on a voluntary basis in the creation of the designs for the space. We plan for the library to include brightly coloured floor-to-ceiling wooden shelves, small “box” shelves for children, bean bags and colourful carpets for reading, a projector screen for running educational events with groups, study tables, several computers, a printer, Wi-Fi, and murals commemorating some of John’s remarkable adventures around the world. I have attached some of these designs here. Spaces like this are practically non-existent here in Honduras and we can’t wait to see this library take shape.

It is an extraordinary privilege to watch change happen, and even more so to be a part of it. I hope that each of you reading this feels a part of this project as well, as it is your generosity that is helping make this library a reality.

We will be sure to keep you up to date as we start with renovations, book-buying and furniture-making in January.

On behalf of the team and young people at educate. and OYE: Thank you!

With gratitude,

Antonia