Girl Brings Literacy to Her Impoverished Village By Opening Library of Her Own

This 12-year-old girl decided to open a library in her impoverished village to provide incentives for residents to read more often.

Maria Clara gathered the literature by creating a campaign asking for book donations. Once she’d been given enough material, she opened the library in an abandoned office used to provide phone services to a nearby state highway.

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The student lives in a village called “Povoado de Serrote” – a very poor area of Bahia in northeast Brazil.

Despite the size and the simplicity of the structure, the establishment will offer valuable research material for nearby students. According to government agencies, the reading rate of an average Brazilian is 1.7 books a year; and since the average income for regional families is only $120 a month, residents simply can’t earn enough to buy books, making the library an exciting new hub for improving literacy.

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