LOVELAND, Colo.—Jane Mirandette is giving power to the people of Nicaragua—one book at a time.
In the past seven years, the Loveland resident has established the first lending library in the country, created a traveling reading program to schools and helped found 25 more libraries around Central America.
And she’s done it all purely through her drive to help others.
“One person can make a difference,” she said. “I don’t think I knew that as well as I know that now.”
Mirandette’s work in the country wasn’t part of her initial plan, she said. Instead, it began with a vacation.
She and her partner, Loveland’s Mike Iacoboni, were searching for a possible vacation home in the country when they ended up buying a hotel.
“I really fell in love with it,” she said.
And it was while she was working at the hotel that Mirandette made a strange observation: There simply weren’t any books to be found in the community. So she decided to do something about it.
Collecting a few hundred books, Mirandette began lending them out to children and adults from the hotel’s patio.
It caught on so fast, she soon moved the project to its own building—and created the first lending library in the country: San Juan del Sur Biblioteca Movil.
Although there were other libraries in the country, Mirandette said, readers were not allowed to take the books home with them.
“The government says Nicaraguans don’t read,” she said. “That’s not true. They don’t have access to books.”
And a book can make a world of difference. “Look globally where people are oppressed, and there are not libraries,” she said.
However, once one is created, “the democratic process begins to strengthen because of the information.”
With 12,500 books in English and Spanish, the San Juan del Sur library lends them to almost 5,000 library cardholders. English and other classes are offered there, too.
“Kids were begging for books,” said Mirandette’s friend, Loveland’s Frank Van Baren, who has helped with the library. “She has made an impact on the whole country.”
In addition to the library, Mirandette has created a traveling library program that takes books to children in secluded communities. Almost 4,000 new library cards have been issued to adults and children because of it.
And outside the country, the template for the initial lending library is being re-created around Central America.
Founded by Mirandette and the nonprofit she created, The Hester J. Hodgdon Libraries for All Program, “Library in a Box” teaches those interested in starting a library how to do it, as well as providing them with more than 1,000 startup books and the lending system.
Today, there are 25 libraries created through the program, founded both by volunteers and members of that community.
To top off all her work, Mirandette also takes stuffed animals, clothing and sports equipment to children who need them in Nicaragua.
“She’s a very unique person,” said Van Baren, who helps collect the items from Loveland. “She’s just devoted to it.”
Although she admits it’s hard work—including coming home to Loveland only every six weeks—Mirandette said it’s the response she gets from the children that keeps her going.
On each anniversary of the library, some children write poems to express their gratitude.
Mirandette read one poem written by a 14-year-old:
“Library, from you I have the total of my wisdom, and so this poem is for you.
“And because you have illuminated my days, today I give you my gratitude.”
Mirandette said the poems are the most exciting part of her job.
“It’s very heartwarming,” she said. “And it makes the work easy.”
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