IBBY-Yamada 2025: Chile

IBBY Chile
Lecturando: Leer Creando (Reading and Creating)

This project fostered reading habits and literary skills among children aged 10–12 in two rural, isolated schools in Chile: Kimun Community School in Limache (Valparaíso) and Las Cascadas Rural School in Puerto Octay (Los Lagos). Based on award-winning Chilean literature, specifically titles recognised with the Colibrí Medal, the initiative shaped creative spaces where students engaged in shared reading, artistic expression, and dialogue with authors. The programme aimed to bridge access gaps in marginalised territories by integrating high-quality books and expressive languages like art and movement into the school environment.

Implementation involved five sessions per region, including three book club workshops, a direct encounter with an author-illustrator, and a training session for local mediators. In Valparaíso, students explored non-fiction works by illustrator Loreto Salinas, culminating in a meeting with the artist. In Los Lagos, participants engaged with books by Fabián Rivas, focusing on creativity and memory, followed by a session with the author. A dedicated training workshop was successfully held in Los Lagos for teachers and caregivers, while the Valparaíso session was adapted into an informal in-person gathering due to school scheduling conflicts. Despite budgetary constraints that reduced the original scope from five schools per region to one, the project delivered 10 total sessions, engaged 20 children and 20 families, and distributed six high-quality books to the participating households.

The project successfully strengthened community bonds and local cultural identity, with students demonstrating increased confidence in creative expression. Although a formal sustainable management methodology and additional funding were not secured during this cycle, the initiative established a replicable model that has already inspired a Comics Reading Club at Liceo Valle de Lluta, supported by Gabriela Mistral University in Santiago de Chile. IBBY Chile plans to leverage this strategic roadmap and the documented success of the workshops to pursue future grants, ensuring the continuity of reading mediation in these isolated communities.