Jane Stern Dorado Community Library, Dorado, PR

Web site: http://home.coqui.net/jsdcl
Press Contact: Maritere Matosantos, principal@tasisdorado.com, (787) 796-0440

Left to right: Mrs. Laura Bush, community member Daniel I. Rodriguez Torres, Director Elida Aguayo-Diaz, and IMLS Director Anne Radice. Click image for a larger version.

When Jane Stern moved from New York City to the tropical island of Puerto Rico in 1963, she was already an established community activist. Her social activism continued in Puerto Rico, and after being instrumental in founding the Mayaguez and Ponce League of Women Voters, Jane set her sights on creating the first community library in the territory. On February 4, 1974, the Jane Stern Dorado Community Library (JSDCL) opened to the public in the small town of Dorado, established by Stern and 19 other families in Dorado who wanted to offer their community a place to read, learn, and interact.

The JSDCL operates as its own entity and is an outstanding example of what can be accomplished when responsibilities are shared with the community, the private sector, and the government, both state and municipal. Goals set forth by the library include engaging the population in activities and services, matching resources to users, offering education and training, and providing diverse materials for the community’s education and enjoyment.

The JSDCL strives to engage the population in activities and services, match resources to users, offer education and training, and provide diverse materials for the community’s education and enjoyment. To engage local youth in reading and other activities at the library, JSDCL offers the Story Hour Program. The initiative, which invites authors and special guests to read books to the participants, draws groups of at least 60 children to the library each week from private and public elementary schools, and includes clowns and other live entertainment as part of the program. Summer workshops for kids include classes on art, photography, Tae Kwon Do, and the importance of ethical behavior. In addition to programs for the school-aged population of Dorado, the library reaches out to senior citizens in the community through a variety of initiatives, including yoga and computer literacy courses.

While the library does a great deal to strengthen the community that it directly serves, it has also been the strongest proponent for the creation of community libraries throughout the island of Puerto Rico. In 1987, after the neighboring city of San Juan had seen all of the good work done by JSDCL, the library was asked to help institute a community library in San Juan. The San Juan Rotary Club and the Jane Stern Dorado Community Library created a formal partnership called Libraries for Literacy to establish community libraries throughout Puerto Rico. As of 2007, seven new community libraries have been built, courtesy of Libraries for Literacy.

Founded as the only community library in Puerto Rico just 34 years ago, with just 100 books and 19 members to its name, the Jane Stern Dorado Community Library has become the heart of its community, connecting people—young and old—to books, programming, and one another.

Community Member Daniel I. Rodríguez Torres
Library-Sponsored Theater Classes Inspire Budding Actor
Daniel I. Rodríguez Torres admits that when he was a child growing up in the Bronx, NY, he didn’t enjoy reading. When he was eight years old, he and his mother moved to Puerto Rico to live with his grandparents. Soon after school began, Rodríguez’s mother took him to the Jane Stern Dorado Community Library (JSDCL) and sat him down with a Magic School Bus series book. He found that the book was as entertaining as the television show of the same name. Rodríguez got excited about reading and began visiting the library frequently. He even attended a JSDCL summer camp when he was ten. Although he temporarily lost interest in the library in his pre-teen years, Rodríguez returned to his library family after a friend suggested that they take acting classes together at JSDCL. Rodríguez is now a theater major at the University of Puerto Rico and credits the Jane Stern Community Library for helping him find his calling.