There’s only so much retail work a girl can take before she’s up to her eyeballs in consumerism. That’s what I was thinking earlier this week as I listened to the umpteenth customer confuse ‘need’ for ‘want’ in regard to our sugary, empty-calorie, nutrient-free products. I began wondering how I could apply a library education to real need, going beyond under-served and urban areas to places librarians don’t normally go. The Peace Corps immediately came to mind, so I did some research and found several library projects and a need for more ‘missionary librarians’.

Library Development in Liberia - Ruthia Yi’s account of working as a Peace Corps librarian in Liberia, helping citizens whose educations were interrupted during civil conflict
Peace Corps in Libraries: Kherson Oblast Library for Children in Kherson, Ukraine  - Deborah Garofalo’s project to set up a sister library relationship between Kherson, Ukraine and Lackawanna, PA
African Library Project – Libraries in Action – An organization that partners with education providers to develop libraries in Botswana, Lesotho, Swaziland, Malawi, Ghana, Zambia, Zimbabwe, Nigeria and Cameroon

I don’t know much about the Peace Corps volunteer process, but these opportunities to help people in a meaningful way are exciting and intriguing. There’s an Info Session webinar coming up on July 11th at 10pm EST, I think I’ll attend!