Located on Lake Atitlán in the western highlands, San Juan La Laguna is a farming community that produces mainly coffee, corn, and beans. The town's 5,000 urban and 4,000 rural inhabitants are almost entirely Tz'utujil, a Mayan ethnicity, and most women still wear traditional attire. The town had a small library, and the Riecken Foundation initiated a project to construct a new library on October 6, 2002. After various construction delays, the Biblioteca Comunitaria "Rija'tzual Na'ooj" (Seed of Knowledge Community Library) was inaugurated on February 5, 2005.
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View of the community from Lake Atitlán.
Library committee at a planning meeting in August 2002.
Committee president Israel with the mayor at the initiation ceremony in October 2002.
Committee members Flora and Julia at a training in December 2002.
Construction in March 2003.
The inauguration ceremony in February 2005.
Committee president Israel upon receiving the keys to the new library.
The children's corner with a beautiful mural of Lake Atitlán.
