Mobile Library - Haiti Observer Blog

The Port-au-Prince district of Bel Air is one of the poorest in the city, afflicted with violence everywhere, traumatizing its inhabitants. It has a history of violence, in particular events surrounding Lavalas leader Jean-Bertrand Aristide.

Soon after assuming the office of the presidency, Aristide was the object of a coup d'etat. He sought refuge in both the U.S. and Africa before returning in 2011. The Lavalas party is strong in Bel Air, and protests were staged, calling for Aristide's return. The government of Haiti sent the Haitian National Police (HNP) on more than one occasion to quell uprisings. What usually ensued was police brutality with large-scale massacres.
In 2005 another rebellion exploded in the streets of Bel Air and local officials feared violence would break out at polling stations on Election Day.

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Haiti is a desperately poor country, the poorest in the Western Hemisphere in fact. Up to 80% of the population is illiterate. So it is interesting to consider the program the National Directorate of Books, National Library, and Libraries without Borders (BSF) is attempting to do to combat the problem.

On July 12, 2012, the tripartite began the Biblio Tap-Tap Program, a mobile library, which will deploy three jitney buses to several areas in the country. The stop-off points include the region around Port-au-Prince and north and central sectors of Haiti. Jitneys will visit each destination point monthly, with a library of 400 titles for each locale, out of its inventory of 2,400 books. The program is designed to serve the unemployed, youth that have dropped out of school, and the homeless. The literacy program will meet the education needs of approximately 5,000 youth and adults.

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