The Traveling Libraries, the “Entonces el libro” Suitcases Collective
For Merle Harris, IBBY Canada Regional Councillor Alberta, the discovery of The Traveling Libraries, the “Entonces el libro” Suitcases Collective came from an online posting from a collective in Argentina looking for sponsors for their book sharing program.
The book that was being shared by the collective, with schools throughout Argentina, was The János Book, a family’s story of the Holocaust and immigration. And it was travelling by suitcase.
Inspired and intrigued, Merle wrote to the founder Alex Appella, to find out more and ask if she would consider having IBBY Canada nominate the Collective for the 2020 IBBY-Asahi Reading Promotion Award.
Alex replied back: Really, you see value in this? Indeed, we do:
The Inspiration for The Traveling Libraries, the “Entonces el libro” Suitcases Collective
Before the outbreak of World War II, Alex Appella’s grandparents emigrated from Hungary to the United States. Before and after the war, their siblings immigrated to Argentina.
In 1994, with many questions about her family unanswered, Alex travelled to Argentina to meet the only elder left who could answer them — her great uncle János.
For the first time in over 50 years, János decided to speak of their family’s past, revealing that they were not only Jewish, but also Holocaust victims and survivors.
The outcome of their time together was The János Book, produced first in English as a limited edition artist’s book in 2006 and then as a trade edition in Spanish in 2012 in Córdoba, Argentina, entitled Entonces el libro (Viento de Fondo).
The Traveling Libraries, the “Entonces el libro” Suitcases Collective, is a book sharing project in Argentina.
The collective supporting the project is made up of people from Alex Applella’s rural community, along with journalists and educators throughout the province of Córdoba, in combination with teachers and sponsors who have been involved with the project from its inception.
Soon after Entonces el libro was published, Alex was approached by high school teachers who were using this unconventional book, which allows for the exploration of a very dark chapter in human history, the Holocaust, as well as the immigrant reality.
Each full-colour page of Entonces el libro is a layered collage that intertwines János’ testimonies with photos, maps, letters and paintings from the family’s exodus. The way the story is told breaks all the rules and invites adolescents in the classroom to do the same. The pages encourage the reader to participate, to discover and to wonder about, as Alex’s family did, all that did not cross the ocean when their ancestors fled. They motivate the reader to reflect on how the circumstances of Alex’s family mirror their own, and how these circumstances define the decisions of many families trying to navigate their place in the world today.
Because Alex believes that change happens in the classroom, and as a response to the teachers’ initial vision and enthusiasm, The Traveling Libraries Collective was born with one suitcase in July 2013.
Each suitcase contains sponsored copies of Entonces el libro, a study guide, and a registry for each school to write about their experience with the suitcase. Each school gets to read the messages and stories from previous schools.
For the first two years the suitcases only travelled throughout the province of Córdoba. In 2015 they began travelling throughout all of Argentina and as of February 2019 the suitcases have been a learning tool, free of charge, for almost 8,000 individuals in Argentina, visiting over 200 different schools, museums and libraries.
The suitcases are prepared each summer — repairing or finding new suitcases, repairing books tired from being on the road, printing and hand binding new registries, creating instruction packages and updating sponsor tags which are the spirit of The Traveling Libraries: the sponsors’ name their books and often include a special message. The tags are magic and connect the students to the international community which sustains the project.
When a teacher reserves a suitcase, they have it for one month and it spends that time at the teacher’s schools, but it is also common for them to be taken to writing groups, local museums, retirement centres and libraries in the evenings and on weekends. Once they begin travelling in March, the suitcases go non-stop until the school year ends in late November.
Since July 2013, the Traveling Libraries has reached 7,966 students in 18 elementary and 132 high schools; 27 universities and teacher-training schools; eight night schools for adults; and 18 museums, libraries, writers groups and retirement centres.
As of February 2019, the collective has been able to manage and maintain five traveling libraries for a total of approximately 30 to 34 trips a year, throughout all of Argentina. The demand amply outweighs the supply.
The Traveling Libraries has no staff but rather relies on a collective of teachers, university professors, journalists, sponsors and volunteers.
Speaking to what winning the IBBY-Asahi Reading Promotion Award would mean for The Traveling Libraries, Alex Appella says:
I feel at a loss, all the time, of how to thank the web of individuals who sustain The Traveling Libraries. From the sponsors to the teachers, to the students. This recognition would allow me to shine upon them their achievement as individuals. Who believed, who extended a hand.
To my great uncle János. To his neighbour, who could do nothing more than witness as they were loaded into cattle cars and deported to Auschwitz.
As individuals we can plant seeds, no matter where we are. We can always illuminate our square metre. Everyone who keeps the suitcases on the road is illuminating their square metre with something tiny, something immense. I feel at a loss to thank them all. This award would allow me to do that. To show them how magnificent their presence is.
2020 IBBY-Asahi Reading Promotion Award Nominee
The Traveling Libraries, the “Entonces el libro” Suitcases Collective
For Merle Harris, IBBY Canada Regional Councillor Alberta, the discovery of The Traveling Libraries, the “Entonces el libro” Suitcases Collective came from an online posting from a collective in Argentina looking for sponsors for their book sharing program.
The book that was being shared by the collective, with schools throughout Argentina, was The János Book, a family’s story of the Holocaust and immigration. And it was travelling by suitcase.
Inspired and intrigued, Merle wrote to the founder Alex Appella, to find out more and ask if she would consider having IBBY Canada nominate the Collective for the 2020 IBBY-Asahi Reading Promotion Award.
Alex replied back: Really, you see value in this? Indeed, we do:
The Inspiration for The Traveling Libraries, the “Entonces el libro” Suitcases Collective
Before the outbreak of World War II, Alex Appella’s grandparents emigrated from Hungary to the United States. Before and after the war, their siblings immigrated to Argentina.
In 1994, with many questions about her family unanswered, Alex travelled to Argentina to meet the only elder left who could answer them — her great uncle János.
For the first time in over 50 years, János decided to speak of their family’s past, revealing that they were not only Jewish, but also Holocaust victims and survivors.
The outcome of their time together was The János Book, produced first in English as a limited edition artist’s book in 2006 and then as a trade edition in Spanish in 2012 in Córdoba, Argentina, entitled Entonces el libro (Viento de Fondo).
The Traveling Libraries, the “Entonces el libro” Suitcases Collective, is a book sharing project in Argentina.
The collective supporting the project is made up of people from Alex Applella’s rural community, along with journalists and educators throughout the province of Córdoba, in combination with teachers and sponsors who have been involved with the project from its inception.
Soon after Entonces el libro was published, Alex was approached by high school teachers who were using this unconventional book, which allows for the exploration of a very dark chapter in human history, the Holocaust, as well as the immigrant reality.
Each full-colour page of Entonces el libro is a layered collage that intertwines János’ testimonies with photos, maps, letters and paintings from the family’s exodus. The way the story is told breaks all the rules and invites adolescents in the classroom to do the same. The pages encourage the reader to participate, to discover and to wonder about, as Alex’s family did, all that did not cross the ocean when their ancestors fled. They motivate the reader to reflect on how the circumstances of Alex’s family mirror their own, and how these circumstances define the decisions of many families trying to navigate their place in the world today.
Because Alex believes that change happens in the classroom, and as a response to the teachers’ initial vision and enthusiasm, The Traveling Libraries Collective was born with one suitcase in July 2013.
Each suitcase contains sponsored copies of Entonces el libro, a study guide, and a registry for each school to write about their experience with the suitcase. Each school gets to read the messages and stories from previous schools.
For the first two years the suitcases only travelled throughout the province of Córdoba. In 2015 they began travelling throughout all of Argentina and as of February 2019 the suitcases have been a learning tool, free of charge, for almost 8,000 individuals in Argentina, visiting over 200 different schools, museums and libraries.
The suitcases are prepared each summer — repairing or finding new suitcases, repairing books tired from being on the road, printing and hand binding new registries, creating instruction packages and updating sponsor tags which are the spirit of The Traveling Libraries: the sponsors’ name their books and often include a special message. The tags are magic and connect the students to the international community which sustains the project.
When a teacher reserves a suitcase, they have it for one month and it spends that time at the teacher’s schools, but it is also common for them to be taken to writing groups, local museums, retirement centres and libraries in the evenings and on weekends. Once they begin travelling in March, the suitcases go non-stop until the school year ends in late November.
Since July 2013, the Traveling Libraries has reached 7,966 students in 18 elementary and 132 high schools; 27 universities and teacher-training schools; eight night schools for adults; and 18 museums, libraries, writers groups and retirement centres.
As of February 2019, the collective has been able to manage and maintain five traveling libraries for a total of approximately 30 to 34 trips a year, throughout all of Argentina. The demand amply outweighs the supply.
The Traveling Libraries has no staff but rather relies on a collective of teachers, university professors, journalists, sponsors and volunteers.
Speaking to what winning the IBBY-Asahi Reading Promotion Award would mean for The Traveling Libraries, Alex Appella says:
I feel at a loss, all the time, of how to thank the web of individuals who sustain The Traveling Libraries. From the sponsors to the teachers, to the students. This recognition would allow me to shine upon them their achievement as individuals. Who believed, who extended a hand.
To my great uncle János. To his neighbour, who could do nothing more than witness as they were loaded into cattle cars and deported to Auschwitz.
As individuals we can plant seeds, no matter where we are. We can always illuminate our square metre. Everyone who keeps the suitcases on the road is illuminating their square metre with something tiny, something immense. I feel at a loss to thank them all. This award would allow me to do that. To show them how magnificent their presence is.
For further information on Entonces el libro:
“Entonces el libro” in English
All about The Traveling Libraries experience in English
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