El segundo día completo en Nicaragua

Hola! My name is Peg Hulse and I am a graduate student studying library science at the University of Missouri.  I am traveling and studying abroad with the group of graduate students from the University of Maryland.  I work at the St. Louis County Library as a Youth Services Specialist, and have a passion for International Relations and Libraries.

This was our second full day in Managua.  We started off the day by presenting various library related ideas to the ANIBIPA Organization (the Nicaraguan Library Association).

The presentations began with some technical difficulties - mostly getting access to the internet.  However, we proceeded regardless and did an excellent job of presenting our topics in Spanish and English.

The list of topics we covered is as follows:

Sarah - How to use a felt board with stories.
Kelsey - How to use an overhead projector.
David - Using WordPress.com to set-up websites for libraries.
Kristin - How libraries can use social media.
Kate - Websites in Spanish that our good for using with kids.
Peg - How librarians can use an online discussion forum to communicate ideas.

At the ANIBIPA meeting, there was also a famous Nicaragua children's illustrator and song writer, Mario Montenegro, and his performance was interactive and lots of fun for everyone!

After lunch, we visited the Dr Roberto Incer Barquero Library, which is housed in the same building as the Central Bank of Nicaragua.  The library has a two different sections.  The first section houses one of the public libraries in Managua and the other is the American Corners collection. American Corners is a joint initiative between the U.S. Embassy and the Central Bank Library in Nicaragua.  They have both Spanish and English books available in the American Corners collection.  Both of these collections are searchable via an electronic database, but only the American Corners books are available for the public to check out.  However, the library also has many computers and desks and offers free internet access. 

We also toured other parts of the Central Bank and got to see some of their unique sculptures and their collection of Nicaraguan currency through the ages.

After the bank tour, most of the students, as well as Ann and Jane, went to a large market.  However, most of time was spent in the artisan section, especially the painters' booth.  The paintings are beautiful and are all done by Nicaraguan artists. 

For dinner, we went to an Italian Restaurant, Pizzeria Pane e Vino, and met with two workers from the Fundación Libros Para Niños (The Foundation of Books for Kids).  This is the only children's book publisher based in Nicaragua, but publishing is only one aspect of their work.  Their goal is to bring books to children and increase the literacy rate among children in Nicaragua.  It was great to meet them and hear about the work they do here in Nicaragua.

It was a long stressful day, but it was educational, and we are all relieved that our presentations our finished.