Our History
During a visit to her native Venezuela, América
Soler-Everhart saw a critical need – poor rural families couldn’t afford
books for their children, and there were no public libraries, which
meant that whenever a child needed a book or wanted to study after
school, there was no place to go.
Driven to help, América set up a bookcase with donated
books in her mother’s home, and when neighborhood children came by to
read or study they would call the bookcase , “La Pequeña Biblioteca”
(The Little Library). La Pequeña Biblioteca was a success, but so many
children needed books that América decided to organize volunteers and in
2002 founded FUNDVEC, or Fundación Venezolana Educación y Cultura
(Venezuelan Foundation for Education & Culture)...
Our Impact
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Our Vision
Impoverished rural people in Venezuela enriching their lives by reading for knowledge and enjoyment.
Our Mission
To provide free access to quality books for disadvantaged rural citizens in Venezuela.
| The Challenge
| Inadequate education – is a major cause for 53% of Venezuela’s rural populace living in poverty.
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| 2 of 3 children enter school unprepared to learn or read (only 45% reach the 9th grade).
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Why?
| Most parents do not understand the critical importance of reading to their children.
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| Poor families lack age-appropriate books in homes and schools.
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The Solution: FUNDVEC’s Rural Library Projects
Biblioteca Pública El Páramo
A free public library that provides 11 rural villages
with access to over 1500 quality books, 2 computers with learning &
business software, audio-visual media, reading programs and workshops.
Seeds of Knowledge Bookcase Libraries
Bookcases filled with age-appropriate books for
children in preschools, kindergartens, and first-grade classrooms;
teachers and parents are encouraged to read aloud to their children
every day to instill basic pre-literacy skills.
How our projects are making a difference:
| 90% or better K12-grade student success rate since Biblioteca Pública El Páramo opened in 2004.
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| With ample age-appropriate
books, teachers are adding more read-aloud activities, and children are
enjoying and are much more interested in books.
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| Parents are realizing the importance and spending more time reading to their children.
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| Children’s early literacy skills are improving significantly. |