San Felipe Book Buddies:
History of the Project

In 1997, Bill and Kay Gabbard retired in San Felipe, Baja California, Mexico, and began looking for ways to contribute to their new community. They began visiting the elementary schools and found out many interesting facts about the school system in San Felipe.

Each facility, for example, houses two totally separate schools. The morning school is in session from 8:00 a.m. until noon. The afternoon session starts at 1:00 p.m. and dismisses at 5:00 p.m. The name of the school changes as does the student body, principal and staff. Of the four hours of school, there is at least a half hour of recess and each class has P.E. two or three times per week. Most teachers teach both sessions but different grades at different schools.

The schools have no frills. The teacher has a manual and a chalkboard, but there are few educational materials in sight. What bothered Kay the most was the absence of library books. Only one school had an actual library, but very few books. When discussing this deplorable situation with a former colleague in the Sacramento area, the suggestion arose that maybe her school could help.

Help, they did, and with the money they raised, Kay purchased books for the morning school in the Los Gavilanes area. Once the teachers realized that the books were in Spanish, they were thrilled. Soon they were asking for books for the other schools at which they taught, and Kay began requesting help from other Catholic schools in the Sacramento area. Each year Kay and Bill visit the Sacremento schools, talk to the students, and send back letters and pictures throughout the year to give the students a sense of personal involvement in the project. The students and their teachers have been wonderful and have raised several thousand dollars for books.

In 2001 the Women of Unity in Carlsbad, CA, became interested in the project. One of the women, a former librarian, was able to obtain books that were no longer being used in the bilingual program. Now, over 15,000 books have been distributed to the 11 elementary and 8 kindergartens in San Felipe and to outlying areas.

The influx of books was wonderful, but most schools had no place to put them. Without access, the books were of very little value to the children. Little by little, most schools were eventually able to build or remodel rooms to store their books. The money for these little libraries came from a variety of sources including money raised by the schools, matching grants from the government, money from local organizations and individuals, and visitors to San Felipe. The exteriors of these buildings are complete, but much more work needs to be done. This includes: tables, chairs, floor tile, accessible bookshelves, audio-visual equipment, computers, printers and software, security bars and doors, and air conditioning. So much has been accomplished in the last five years that Kay and Bill are confident that in the near future all of the schools will have libraries that will introduce children to the wonderful world of literature and help them to learn the technology that will prepare them for life in the 21st century. Maybe you can help!

| Home | Updates | The Children | Participants | In the News |
| What's Needed | How to Help | Adopt-a-School | Bookstore |

Project Coordinator: Kay Gabbard
gabbard@sanfelipe.com.mx