In the United States and Canada, we take public lending libraries for granted. It's difficult to imagine a community without one. But in Central America, and specifically in Costa Rica, a library is just a place where students go to do research. A library is not where someone goes to find a good book to read over the weekend.
The custom of a lively public library in a small village was unknown in this part of the world until NOW! The David S. Kitson Memorial Library is a pioneer in inter-cultural, volunteer efforts.
When the foreign residents of Nosara began this project about 15 years ago, many a "doubting Thomas" said, “These people won't read books, they only watch TV.” Wrong!
Although the educational level in the village is probably an average of second year of high school, people are literate. They have taken to the wonderful collection of light reading and inspirational self-help books -- which share first place in the book popularity contest -- like the proverbial duck to water. The library now has 10,000 volumes in Spanish, and has hundreds of library cards issued to local people. In addition, high school students use the library to do homework, use typewriters and computers for schoolwork, and use the reference volumes
History of the library
