August 23, 2006 - 5:00pm
Dr. Larry Wolfe had just assigned a library research paper to his marketing students when one of the students spoke up.
"But sir," the student said, "There are no books."
Surprised, Wolfe checked the library at the University of Belize. The student was right. There were no books – at least, no current books on marketing. Instead, half of the 30,000 books in the library were multiple copies of textbooks so outdated that they should have been discarded a decade earlier.
"There were huge gaps in what they covered," Wolfe said. Although the university’s library was the best in Belize, he was unable to find information on Hinduism to help his daughter complete a school project.
Due to the shortage of books, university students resort to research on the Internet, which means they often collect inaccurate information.
"I needed to help," Wolfe said. Following his year in Belize, he returned to Canada in 2003 and began searching for books. "I couldn’t just leave it and walk away."
Fortunately, the students in Belize needed books written in English. Although bordered by the Spanish-speaking countries of Mexico, Guatemala and Honduras, Belize is English-speaking.
Wolfe started his Books for Belize project on a small scale. On a return visit to Belize, he and his wife packed books with their luggage. When they delivered those books, they were ushered into the office of the University president, Dr. Corinth Morter-Lewis, a reaction that underlined the value of the books in Belize.
Once Wolfe began teaching Global Studies at Malaspina in January 2005, he discovered a treasure trove of texts since Malaspina courses parallel those taught in Belize.
"I can get the books very easily," he said. "Students give them to me. Faculty give them to me. I’m buried in books."
Wolfe says the University of Belize needs books in all academic areas, such as business, marketing, criminology, medicine, ecology, psychology, information technology and more. He also seeks novels, classic literature, and children’s books, which can be shared with schools in Belize. Some elementary schools have no books at all, he said. His only requirement is that the books be either current or classics.
Although surplus in Canada, the books Wolfe sends to Belize are building a foundation for the future development of the country.
"The goal of the country is to strengthen education from beginning to end," Wolfe said. He describes Belize as "middle-income for a developing country", with some pockets of poverty but much promise, due in part to a growing tourist trade, relatively high literacy, and a stable government that values education.
This past summer he sent 10 cubic feet of books to Belize, piggy-backing on a container shipment from Texas. Over the next few months, he hopes to gather enough books and donations to send a 40 cubic foot ‘skid’ of books.
He’s now seeking on-campus storage, has already raised approximately one-third of the $1,400 required for shipping, and works with the Canadian Lutheran World Relief Fund to provide tax receipts to donors. Donations can be sent to CLWR at online at www.clwr.org, by phone at 1.800.661.2597 (CLWR), or by cheque or money order to: Canadian Lutheran World Relief, 1080 Kingsbury Avenue, Winnipeg MB R2P 1W5. Please mark donations clearly as "Books for Belize."
Anyone interested in donating books, money, or space to the project can contact Wolfe at 250-754-9181 or wolfel@viu.ca.
Tags: In the Community
