The '20 de Diciembre' Popular Library in Escobar, Buenos Aires province, with a 94-year history dedicated to cultural and educational purposes, is at risk of eviction. Its members report that 'a group of people wants to take over the building and is seeking to evict the Library.' The library has been using the premises for 27 years for cultural and educational activities, and it also participates in any community initiatives. Several generations from the area have passed through its doors, and its collection holds over 20,600 books from all fields of knowledge. Annually, it receives interns in librarianship from IFSD N°15 in Campana and a group of interns from IFSD N°55. The library participates every year in the Book Fair as part of CONABIP's 'Book %' program and has accompanied the creation of libraries in various spaces: popular high schools, soup kitchens, primary schools, and schools for adults, social organizations, and donates books to these spaces. Outside the library, they promote reading through activities in the district's squares, organizations, soup kitchens, public schools, Training Institutes, radio, popular high schools, and many other places. In order to give the widest possible publicity to the situation of a possible eviction, they have started a campaign on social media 'to achieve the support of the entire community in defending the space so that the Library remains open, guaranteeing the right to culture and education.' In an interview given to the alternative and community radio station Radio Activa, members of the library announced the holding of a festival for Saturday, April 18, at the door of the place that now hosts them and that they defend for the entire community. 'A lot of history is at stake, so solidarity and participation are fundamental at this moment.' A lot of history is at stake, so solidarity and participation are fundamental at this moment. In an interview with alternative and community radio Radio Activa, members of the library announced the holding of a festival for Saturday, April 18, at the door of the place that now hosts them and that they defend for the entire community. Its first name was Biblioteca Rivadavia, back in 1932, at its founding by the initiative of a group of young people from the socialist party of the district. During the civic-military dictatorship, it had to close its doors and they resumed the cultural and educational task in the '90s. It was headquartered on Ameghino Street, until in 1999 it was moved to its current headquarters on Hipólito Yrigoyen 514, a place that is now at risk due to a judicial process initiated in 2018 for the ownership of the property. From the library, its members state that they only became aware of that lawsuit 'less than a year ago due to some summonses as witnesses of former authorities of the library before the Peace Court in Escobar.' The collection of literature for all ages and interests includes a notable selection of poetry and theater, the widest among the libraries in the area. In the immense journey they make for the community, for example, the free reading activities and workshops led by the library's group of mediators can be counted, 'a figure that plays a key role so that more people join in reading, it is the one who generates that contact,' they explain from the Biblio. Reading rounds (one Saturday a month they decorate the Biblio with a special theme). Photo: El Día de Escobar news portal. The '20 de Diciembre' Popular Library is located in the heart of Belén de Escobar, Buenos Aires province. The Reading Mediators Workshop is held jointly with IFDS N°55 in Escobar and the National University of Luján. Within the library space, monthly reading mediation encounters are held: Bebeteca (small readers from 0 to 3 years old), Reading Journeys (for adolescent and young readers), Reading Club (for adults), writing workshop for young people and adults. Faced with the initial surprise, those who activate and sustain the Biblio denounce that 'in this judicial process we were not given intervention. A group of people filed a prescription acquisitive claim where they allege that more than fifty years ago their predecessors occupied that property, even though they were not owners.' They are preparing a festival in defense of the space for the next Saturday, April 18.
