LIBRARY TRANSFORMATION · CIALES, PUERTO RICO
In 2020, a fire destroyed the Ciales Municipal Library, taking with it more than books. It took a gathering place, a study hall for children, a quiet refuge for elders. When Libraries Without Borders began working in Puerto Rico’s mountainous interior, we found a community ready to rebuild, but determined to build something better. Working alongside the Municipality of Ciales, we’re transforming the municipal library into a community-centered hub: a space for learning, connection, and cultural preservation designed around what residents actually need.
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Before any design work began, we met with Ciales residents to understand what they needed from their library. What emerged was a vision: not just a place to borrow books, but a hub for digital literacy, youth programming, and intergenerational connection in a municipality where many young people have left and elders hold irreplaceable knowledge.
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Working with the Municipality of Ciales under a 10-year partnership agreement, we’re equipping the library with technology, furniture, and programming infrastructure. The Municipality maintains the space; we provide training, technical assistance, and the programming framework that turns a room with books into a living community resource.
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From day one, this project is designed for local ownership. Municipal staff and community members receive training in digital literacy instruction, media production, and community archives work. Our goal is a library that runs on local capacity long after our direct involvement ends.
Computer access and instruction for residents of all ages, closing the digital divide in a municipality where connectivity remains limited.
Hands-on training in digital storytelling, video production, and creative expression for young people.
Building on the model we piloted in Loiza, Ciales residents are learning to document their own stories, preserving local memory for future generations.
What we learn in Ciales becomes a playbook for library transformation across Puerto Rico and beyond.
This work is made possible with support from the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation.
