Starting from Scratch
Watanabe Yuriko is a librarian for SVA. Her boss asked her to set up libraries for refugees from Myanmar living in camps in Thailand. When she asked, “Where do I start?” he answered, “First, build the buildings.”
I’m a librarian, not an architect, but that is how it is when you work for SVA. Our job is to provide books for kids, and whatever it takes to do that, we do.
The buildings presented challenges. My first thought was for the people who would use the libraries. Some of them were landmine victims on crutches. That meant the buildings should be at ground level. But I learned that the area flooded during the rainy season. Most buildings were built above ground level. We finally built on stilts. Even so, one of our three buildings was washed away by flood waters two years later.
With the buildings built, I went back to my main job: getting books for children. I selected 50 picture book titles. I needed four copies of each title: three in Karen and one in Burmese. We managed to find enough books in Burmese, but finding books in the Karen language was harder. Finally, we decided to use Japanese picture books and paste Karen translations on each line.
I chose books in five subject areas: world classics, books about other cultures, about peace, about health, and about the environment.
Even before the buildings were completed, the libraries were a success. We held a demonstration picture book reading in a small temporary building. When a staff member started to read aloud, kids were totally absorbed. Children playing outside came running in, and another crowd of kids listened from outside. The weight of the crowd crushed a bamboo desk, but the kids concentrated on the story, as if nothing had happened.
Building buildings was a new challenge; collecting books and translating them was an exercise in professionalism; watching children respond to reading was pure joy. That’s a good summary of my work at SVA: challenge, professionalism, and joy.
Watanabe Yuriko is a librarian for SVA. Her boss asked her to set up libraries for refugees from Myanmar living in camps in Thailand. When she asked, “Where do I start?” he answered, “First, build the buildings.”
I’m a librarian, not an architect, but that is how it is when you work for SVA. Our job is to provide books for kids, and whatever it takes to do that, we do.
The buildings presented challenges. My first thought was for the people who would use the libraries. Some of them were landmine victims on crutches. That meant the buildings should be at ground level. But I learned that the area flooded during the rainy season. Most buildings were built above ground level. We finally built on stilts. Even so, one of our three buildings was washed away by flood waters two years later.
With the buildings built, I went back to my main job: getting books for children. I selected 50 picture book titles. I needed four copies of each title: three in Karen and one in Burmese. We managed to find enough books in Burmese, but finding books in the Karen language was harder. Finally, we decided to use Japanese picture books and paste Karen translations on each line.
I chose books in five subject areas: world classics, books about other cultures, about peace, about health, and about the environment.
Even before the buildings were completed, the libraries were a success. We held a demonstration picture book reading in a small temporary building. When a staff member started to read aloud, kids were totally absorbed. Children playing outside came running in, and another crowd of kids listened from outside. The weight of the crowd crushed a bamboo desk, but the kids concentrated on the story, as if nothing had happened.
Building buildings was a new challenge; collecting books and translating them was an exercise in professionalism; watching children respond to reading was pure joy. That’s a good summary of my work at SVA: challenge, professionalism, and joy.