Palapa Society, Todos Santos

Jamie

Biblioteca Elena Poniatowska Children’s

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At the Elena Poniatowska Children’s Library, we want our users aged 0 to 17 and their families to find printed literature that interests and pleases them, both in Spanish and English. Currently the majority of our collection is in English, but we aim to expand our collection in Spanish and bilingual. Therefore, we extend an invitation to the community to visit us and donate books in Spanish so that more children can enjoy reading in this beautiful language.

The task we have ahead fills us with excitement but requires hard work. Just as we clean and organize our homes to receive guests, that’s precisely what we’ve been doing at the library. We appreciate our volunteers, Terra Omni, who support us with user assistance and collection organization on Tuesdays from 4 to 6 in the afternoon, and the Kazemis, who assist the library two to three times a week with collection organization.

If you wish to narrate a book or tell a story to our children, participate as a volunteer, donate books for children and teens, or share any questions, please write to bep-infantil@palapasociety.org, and I will gladly assist you.

Biblioteca Elena Poniatowska Volunteer Wanda Piccini

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PB: Who is your favorite author?

WP: John Sanford; I like his style and I can’t ever guess what is going to happen or who-done-it. He is a very clever writer who challenges the reader; not at all formulaic.

PB: If you were to branch out and expand your reading what section would you explore?

WP: I would go to biography or historical fiction. I really like Anne Rule because many of her books are based on real events, like the Green River murders.

PB: What would you tell prospective volunteers about the library?

WP: That volunteering is a good way to get involved in the community. The library may be a stationary place, but its fingers extend into the community by providing self-directed, life-long learning, and other formal educational opportunities for Mexican nationals.

PB: In your opinion how could the library better serve the community?

WP: I think there could be more publicity about the library, that we could have more members, especially with the (younger) 30-and-40-somethings. I have had mothers come in with their children and ask if there is a regular story time in the children’s library.

I think the group story time is an important part of a children’s library, I know it was when my girls were small.

Library membership fees increase as of January 1, 2024:

$500 for new memberships, $300 for renewals.

The Biblioteca Elena Poniatowska Director Attends FIL

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The Feria Internacional de Libros (FIL), is the second largest book fair in the world, just slightly behind the Frankfurter Buchmesse, in size and scale. November, 2023 marked the 36th FIL, and this year, the European Union was the honored invitee so in addition to authors and publishers from Mexico, and central and South America there were literary guests from Spain, Italy, France, Belgium, Ireland, Poland and Sweden as well as authors

Held annually in late November in Guadalajara, Jalisco, the Feria is a forum for authors, illustrators, publishers, agents, editors, and of course the public who come out to buy tens of thousands of books. The first five days of the Feria are reserved for professionals, so as a librarian, I qualified to attend talks and panels, and browse the book seller’s stalls before the public entered. It was a time of great comradery and recognition, as we “professionals” sat together in the salons to listen to a variety of presentations by academics, authors, editors, and publishers. I attended a workshop given by Carlos Armenta of Impronta Editorial, on the letterpress, a somewhat antiquated form of printing using movable lead type, which is being revived for small press runs, like poetry chapbooks.

I also attended several talks by Chilean authors who through collective memory are attempting to come to terms with the details of the September 11, 1973 military takeover of the Democratic government of Salvador Allende. The 50th anniversary recently passed, (September 11, 2023) and many fiction and non-fiction books related to the golpe or coup were presented. One of the most interesting, yet disturbing take-ways from the conference was the importance of children’s literature to a country’s culture and collective identity. According to author and academic Vivian Levin, the seventeen years during the Pinochet dictatorship was time devoid of independently published children’s books. In essence this created a huge cultural void for children, who use age-appropriate literature to process family, social and historical events, and did not have books to help them through those difficult times.

January 1, 1994, is an important date for Mexico, as January 1, 2024, will mark the 30th anniversary of the Zapatista Army of National Liberation (EZLN)’s 12-day uprising in the state of Chiapas, Mexico. I attended a panel moderated by author Juan Villoro, who presented a magazine, published by the UNAM, dedicated to the anniversary of the EZLN movement, which includes academic essays, and speeches and writings by Subcomandante Marcos and Comandanta Ramona. There will be a copy of this magazine-style book in the library.
Attending the FIL, was an incredible experience from the exposure to a variety of Latin American authors’ presenting their books, and the freedom to browse book stalls from various countries, universities and independent publishers. I plan to attend next year, but hope to gather a group of people to represent Todos Santos, and Baja California Sur, and I would love to share this incredible cultural experience with others.

Welcome Paty Baum, New Director for the Biblioteca Elena Poniatowska

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Patricia (Paty) Baum was born in Lansing, Michigan, where her father taught literature at Michigan State University. In 1962, he accepted a teaching position at Lewis & Clark College in Portland, Oregon. Books were the central focus of the Baum household; the family made frequent trips to the Multnomah County Library and area bookstores, including Powells. Baum attended Riverdale School, Metropolitan Learning Center and John Adams HS. She eventually pursued a BA in film production at San Francisco State and an MEA from University of Guadalajara. In 1995, a surfer friend told her about Todos Santos, and she and two friends spent a life-changing month in southern Baja. The visit inspired her to make a permanent move to Todos Santos in 1996. She inherited a surf shop from her business partner, then moved it to Los Cerritos, where she lived in a trailer on the beach for 13 years. She married Daniel Garcia Sosa; their son, Silvio Carlos Garcia Baum was born in 2000. He attended school in Pescadero and Todos Santos. In 1999, with 500 books from her father’s library, she founded what is now the Biblioteca Elena Poniatowska.

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During her 26 years in Todos Santos and Pescadero, she inspired, facilitated and participated in many community-based social and environmental projects including: spay and neuter clinics and educational outreach, making Playa Los Cerritos car-free, beach and arroyo clean-ups, the first community recycling program, three sea turtle groups, two libraries, a bi-lingual school, four youth-in-video films with the Escuela de Cine Leonard Perel, a ten-year stint with her Future Biologist’s field learning, ocean safety program in Pescadero, and numerous collaborations with like-minded environmental educators. She co-authored two social science research papers about Baja, and authored, The Illustrated Guide to Sea Turtles in Baja California, which was distributed free-of-charge to Baja Sur middle schools. Her love of books and life-long learning has not waned over the years, so her full circle back to the Biblioteca Elena Poniatowska is a natural progression.