Once upon a time in 2000, Susan Riecken and Allen Andersson began thinking about retirement but decided to first try and solve some of the most immediate needs of remote Central American villages: food, medicine, schools, agriculture support, jobs. They soon realized that the easiest to transport and highest value solution they could offer was information – and access to it.

They created the Riecken Foundation, which over the years and with the hard work of many, has created a network of 65 libraries in poor, rural communities in Honduras and Guatemala. Learning through experience that the key to a successful library is strong community governance, the Riecken Community Library Model was developed and to this day is critical to the sustainable management, funding and staffing of each Riecken Library.

The partnership between community, municipality and the Riecken Foundation keeps the libraries strong. And leveraging the local resources greatly increases the impact that Riecken Foundation donor funding provides.

Today Riecken Community Libraries are far more than places where books and information are available. They are lively community centers where access to information and dynamic programming relevant to the community in which the library exists, do change lives.

Since the year 2000, the Riecken Foundation has worked with poor rural communities and their municipalities in Guatemala and Honduras to create a network of dynamic community libraries. The libraries are independent, open and free to all, and highly valued in this region of such great need.

The vision behind each Riecken Community Library is that it will nourish the minds of its users and drive social initiatives that contribute to community solutions for the common good.

To that end, each Riecken library serves as a community center in which to experience the spirit of discovery, books and literacy programs, support for local schools and teachers, safe activity choices for young people, access to the Internet whenever possible and training in technology tools, and other community development initiatives geared for relevance to the community.

Unique to Riecken Community Libraries – and critical to their success – is the Riecken Community Library Model in which the libraries belong to their communities and are managed by a group of citizen volunteers which are subsidized by local governments.