REV-

back to project index

\WORKSHOP & DESIGN\ Biblioburro

Responding to the low level of literacy in the region of El Congrejal, Honduras, Biblioburro is a mobile library and bookmaking station in which a ‘burro’ and its attendant ‘Bibliogauchos’ traverse the countryside, providing skills to promote literacy to youth. Designers/Teachers: Marisa Jahn & Rachel McIntire
Location: El Pital, Honduras
Date: 2010 and ongoing
Support: Break Arts, Un Mundo

One side of the Biblioburro’s saddlebags contains tools and supplies used to make books; the other side of the saddlebag contains the books that others have made, bringing them to share with others. The Bibliogaucho, whose moustache and colorful costume intrigues, rides the burro from site to site, teaching others to bind and publish their own books. The Bibliogaucho’s motive is to excite others to write the most brilliant stories, which he/she craves – the imagination of another is this object that he/she seeks. For the Bibliogaucho and participants, there is a reciprocity at work then – the teaching of bookmaking skills and literacy in exchange for the unfathomably ingenious glimpse into the human imagination.

Building from the success of a pilot bookmaking course that Marisa taught to k-12 youth in El Pital in 2008, Biblioburro will be first deployed in 2010 by REV- in collaboration with/with support from Un Mundo and the community of El Pital, centrally located within the region of El Congrejal.

Responding to the low level of literacy in the region of El Congrejal, Honduras, Biblioburro is a mobile library and bookmaking station in which a ‘burro’ and its attendant ‘Bibliogauchos’ traverse the countryside, providing skills to promote literacy to youth.	Designers/Teachers: Marisa Jahn & Rachel McIntire Location: El Pital, Honduras Date: 2010 and ongoing Support: Break Arts, Un Mundo
One side of the Biblioburro’s saddlebags contains tools and supplies used to make books; the other side of the saddlebag contains the books that others have made, bringing them to share with others. The Bibliogaucho, whose moustache and colorful costume intrigues, rides the burro from site to site, teaching others to bind and publish their own books. The Bibliogaucho’s motive is to excite others to write the most brilliant stories, which he/she craves – the imagination of another is this object that he/she seeks. For the Bibliogaucho and participants, there is a reciprocity at work then – the teaching of bookmaking skills and literacy in exchange for the unfathomably ingenious glimpse into the human imagination. Building from the success of a pilot bookmaking course that Marisa taught to k-12 youth in El Pital in 2008, Biblioburro will be first deployed in 2010 by REV- in collaboration with/with support from Un Mundo and the community of El Pital, centrally located within the region of El Congrejal.