The National Section of Bolivia was established in 1985 by Taller de Experiencias Pedagógicas (Workshop in Pedagogical Experiences), which at that time was working with Centro Portales. The Section has links with several international organizations such as IRA (International Reading Association) and PIALI (Programa Internacional de Acercamiento a la Literatura Infantil, Program for Approaching Children’s Literature)) and has participated in the educational reform in Bolivia. Branches of the section have been established in other Bolivian cities: La Paz, Oruro, Sucre, Santa Cruz, and Tarija.

In 1992, the Biblioteca Th’uruchapitas was established by IBBY Bolivia, in order to promote reading among children and young adults, and training teachers in Reading. To help the library, the UNESCO-IFLA programme ‘Books For All’ donated seven collections of books.

The project supports children and teachers through its different programmes:

• Ronda Escolar (School Ronda)
• Lectura Silenciosa Sostenida (Sustained Silent Reading)
• Mesas Redondas para Niños Lectores (Panels for Children readers)
• (Cursillos de Lectura y Escritura para Niños (Reading an Writing Classes for Children)
• Cursos y Charlas para Docentes (Lectures and Classes for Teachers)
• Talleres permanentes de Lectura para Niños (Permanent Workshops in Children’s Reading)

It received a special distinction from the Council on Science and Research of the Millennium Project. This distinction allowed the library to join the project Sister Libraries. Biblioteca T’uruchapitas became a sister library to the Appalachian State University at Boon, North Carolina, USA. In April 2003, Biblioteca T’uruchapitas was the recipient of the IBBY-Asahi Reading Promotion Award.

From September 2003, the project leads the campaign Construye mi biblioteca (Build my Library) in order to raise funds to build a library on land donated by the local government of Cochabamba.

The Section also publishes small books for children from marginal areas as well as educational books for teachers.

IBBY Bolivia Newsletters

December 2012 Boletín 66

July 2012 Boletín 65

January 2012 Boletín 64

June 2010 Click here to download