Gilberto Pabón Sandoval
Gilberto was a Librarian for Peace in the corregimiento of Conejo (Fonseca), La Guajira, Colombiafrom February 26, 2017 to December 23, 2017.
He also worked in Robles (La Paz, César) in the Valledupar
metropolitan area from February 13, 2018 to December 22, 2018.
"I am a cultural manager and reading promotor with a background in legal studies at the Universidad Libre. My experience started in the Cultural Corporation Public Library Julio Pérez Ferrero, in the city of Cúcuta, Norte de Santander. There I worked as a tutor and reading promoter in the Municipal Reading and Writing Network of Cúcuta, which is led by the City Hall of San José de Cúcuta and aims to promote reading and writing among children, youth, adults and senior citenzs in Cúcuta, with a particular focus on the rights of people in vulnerable positions. We managed, within the framework of this important and valuable initiative, to design library extension services for communities in different neighborhoods of Cúcuta, creatomg innovative activities to promote reading and culture, such as the "Lunadas Literarias," which were recognized as examples for the country by the Colombian Ministry of Culture. We were also able to design educational and cultural activities around books and cinema through the "Biblioexpress" (a mobile library that visited the neighborhoods of Cúcuta and nearby municipalities. Also, I am the founder of the Cultural Corporation of Reading and Writing of the town of Los Patios. I participated in the Ministry of Culture's Mobile Public Libraries Project in 2017. I was also a librarian in the Paths for Peace public library initiative developed in 2018 by the Ministry of Culture. Currently, I work as coordinator of the Cultural Corporation of Reading and Writing, which is dedicated to creating strategic reading and writing plans with an innovative character." |
Work in the Rural Public Library of Conejo
"The Ministry of Culture indicated that one of the main projects, since the beginning of the library, was the recovery of the towns' traditions, such as the love for vallenato. This project stems from the fact that in Conejo, several years ago there was a group called the Dinastía Vallenata, which brought together some of the best talent in the area. However, the group had disintegrated and it was thanks to the library that some of its members and and other heirs of the tradition met again to compose and perform songs alluding to peace, the people, and what the library means to the community.
This resurgence of the group motivated the library and the municipal administration to convert a space into the School of Música Vallenata, which has become a hotbed of new talent where children and young people compose songs and learn to play accordion, guitar, cajón and guacharaca.
The sense of ownership that the inhabitants of Conejo shared regarding their library is reflected in the streets of the corregimiento. The 20 murals that cover the town streets embody the customs of its people, telling the history of the town– a story that, like a good vallenato, will say that one day a library arrived and the community latched on, and did not let go."
El Pilón https://elpilon.com.co/
FARC building memory in Conejo
Where is Conejo?
The corregimiento of Conejo is located in the municipality of Fonseca in the department of La Guajira. It has around 2500 inhabitants and is the largest district of the three that constitute Fonseca. It has very fertile land, so the main economic activities are related to agriculture and livestock. The production of coffee stands out and the Coffee Festival, celebrated every December for the past 16 years, is famous in the area. Due to its proximity to the Venezuelan border, Conejo was one of the main routes to Venezuela and it was also a region where the guerrillas were furnished with supplies. Conejo received substantial international attention in February 2016, when it was chosen by the FARC to make its presence public for the first time and to socialize with the troops stationed in this region.
The job
Rural Public Library of Conejo'Corregimiento, in Fonseca. February 2017; (3 '56 ")
Presentation of the project: "Public Libraries on the veredas and paths of peace"
May 15, 2018; (3 '56 ")
When the Mobile Public Library arrived under Gilberto's leadership, "It came as a miracle," say residents. A miracle that has brought together the entire community around books, tablets and computers. The School of Música Vallenata is a place where children and young people learn to play accordion, guitar, 'cajón' and guacharaca. Furthermore, with the help of a group of artists and the community, library workers adorned the town streets with 20 colorful murals that illustrate local history. "
–National Library, September 2018.
"In La Guajira, peace begins in a library" – article written by María Rodríguez and published in Pacifista on October 8, 2018.
María wrote this article to publicly acknowledge the Daniel Samper Ortega National Prize for Public Libraries awarded in 2018 to the Rural Public Library of Conejo. The prize recognized this library as the best public library in the country.
This article, which deserves to be read, tells how this Rural Public Library developed out of the Mobile Library for Peace that started under Gilberto's leadership in the early November, 2016.
Music, literature and the library
"Tierra de Paz" (Land of Peace) where the arrival of the library is sung in the framework of the peace process
Dinastía Vallenata in Noticias Uno
Raúl Oñate sings
Writer Alonso Sánchez visits the library
Daniel Samper Ortega Award
The Award in Caracol Noticias
The prize-winning song: Sin miedo (Without fear)
Ay, how lovely the times of yesterday, where there was no violence
Nor was there war, everything was happiness
My God, so much destruction because,
because there is so much sadness
And our mother earth cannot take any more
The mockingbird no longer sings, that child no longer sings
Your neighbor does not say "good morning," "how are you"
Because it is no longer the same as thos bygone times
And you can't even walk on the roads
You can walk, without fear, without fear of dying
Without fear, you can walk the villages
Without fear of having someone kidnap you
Now this world is like that, now who can change it
Now this world is like that, now I have to tell you
How sad is this reality, God
You are the king of the world and on earth none
can achieve this, God
You own the world and in a mere second
You can make guerrillas come
And all armed groups, holding hands
Come, let's look for peace, so that tomorrow morning
You hear on the radio that after so many years,
Colombia lives in peace
Without fear, without fear of dying
Without fear, you can walk
Without fear, you can walk the villages
Without fear of having someone kidnap you
Now this world is like that, now who can change it
Now this world is like that, now I have to tell you
How sad is this reality
II
God give me back yesterday's time
On my knees I ask you to light the way
Where there is no evil
Faith moves mountains, I know, and here the enemy
has gone to the mountains, and from the mountains he returns
And live as a brother and live as a friend
Because living together is living in peace
Because it is no longer the same as those bygone times
And it is very sad that a child can no longer go to school
Without fear, without fear of dying
Without fear, you can walk
Without fear, you can walk the villages
Without fear of having someone kidnap you to kidnap
Now this world is like that, now who can change it
Now this world is like that, now I have to tell you
How sad is this reality
God give me back yesterday's time
On my knees I ask you to light the way
Where there is no evil
Faith moves mountains, I know, and here the enemy
has gone to the mountains, and from the mountains he returns
And live as a brother and live as a friend
Because living together is living in peace
Because it is no longer the same as those bygone times
And it is very sad that a child can no longer go to school
"It was a special song for Peace and a good demonstration of progress in the peace process. It speaks of the joy we all felt when we got up and knew that the war had given way to reconciliation and that after so many years, Colombia finally lives in peace."
Author: Raúl Oñate
Published on page 10 of La mamá de la bibliotecas. Cartilla vallenata. Escuela de Música Vallenata. Biblioteca Pública de Conejo. 2018.