Please enjoy the following photos that provide a better picture of the library and all that goes on there. The photos have been divided into the following categories. Click on the category that may particularly interest you and scroll over the photos for a description of the photo.
Activities at the Library
The Staff
The Building-Exterior
The Building-Interior
Planning and Construction
Activities at the Library
Reading at the library
Computer lab
A workshop at the library
Handwashing demonstration in front of the library
Lending books using book bags made by volunteers in Essex
Book buddies at the library
Story hour
Researching under the lights
Using manipulatives at the library
Starting to use the library in a “soft opening”
Exploring books
Exploring the world
Sharing a story
Studying
Big sister helping
Entering the world of the internet
Studying homework
Studying
A workshop
Community members researching
Studying
Look at this!
Story hour hosted by Jenifer Grant
The Staff
Anny Frederique flanked by librarians Odverne Charles and Besly Belizaire
Besly Belizaire, Librarian and Administrator
Librarian Plerette Mervil cataloguing books
Librarian Euliciane Fleurisma keeping the shelves tidy
David Evangelisti, Besly Belizaire (librarian), Anny Frederique (ODES & Library Conseil), Terry Parkinson, Rachel Pierre (FOKAL), Kathleen Maher, Fritz Garcon (ODES & Librarian Conseil)
Hard at work
Luquece Belizaire, ODES President
Besly helping a patron
Pleret organizing
Besly checking the tablets
Charles Odverne, former librarian
Researching under the lights
Volunteers who organized a French Club and English Club
Librarians addressing the community
Many thanks to FOKAL. Training the librarians at FOKAL: Besly Belizaire (librarian-in-training), Erick Toussaint (FOKAL), Charles Odverne (librarian-in training))
SCEH and Librarians at a work session
Collaboration between ODES and SCEH. Council member Ti Will top row second from right.
The Building-Exterior
Bibliothèque Communitaire Deschapelles
A well-lit place to study
Eaves to protect against the rain
Shutters provide security
The cupola is a passive ventilation system
The gatehouse contains the water pump, generator, storage and a guardhouse
Patrons first visit the guardhouse.
Screens to protect against mosquitoes
The front room
Fer forger (decorative iron work).
Colorful latrines behind the library
The “twalet pou fem”
Electricity is a rare commodity in Deschapelles
The entry
The Building-Interior
The librarian’s area in the center of the study area
Community members gather for the opening ceremony
Computer lab
Shelves awaiting more books
Discover Toussaint Louverture: a hero of Deschapelles
Starting to use the library in a “soft opening”
Bibliyotek Communitaire de Deschapelles (the Community Library of Deschapelles) opened in January 2016.
Planning and Construction
The need: Students studying under street lamps
The need: Children studying inside an abandoned building before the library was built
The need: Before the library was built: finding an abandoned chalkboard in an abandoned building to practice schoolwork
The need: Trying to study under dim lights while fighting mosquitoes
Planning: Members of ODES and SCEH working together
Locating the land: ODES and SCEH surveying possible sites for the library
Finding the land: Discussing the library, Lessor and Terry Smith, Chair of SCEH Library Committee
Land found: Lease signing
SCEH Board members and lessor at the signing of the land lease for the library
A full-roofed gatehouse, August 2014
The site for the library
Architect: Hope Proctor, Terry Smith and ODES Library Committee visiting the site for the library
Hope Proctor, Terry Smith and the ODES Library Committee collaborating on the design of the library
Architectural schematic
Interior floor plan of proposed library
First steps: Building the perimeter fence
Laying out the foundation
Digging the foundation
Digging the foundation for the Deschapelles library
Men and women are employed
In the meantime: A library without walls: reading to young children program
Many thanks to FOKAL. Training the librarians at FOKAL: Besly Belizaire (librarian-in-training), Erick Toussaint (FOKAL), Charles Odverne (librarian-in training))
In Essex, raising money for books: Susan Carpenter of Tri-Town Rotary seeking supporters for the library project
Building needed ancillary buildings
John Chew (Construction Oversight), Anny Frederique (ODES), Luquece Belizaire (Construction Manager), Jenifer Grant, Terry Smith, Dan Taylor-Stypa, Belsy Belizaire (ODES), David Evangelisti at the library site, 1/27/13
FOKAL supports: Elizabeth Pierre Louis and Erick Toussaint (FOKAL), Terry Smith, Jenifer Grant, Dan Taylor-Stypa, John Chew (Library Construction Supervisor), Anny Frederique (ODES), David Evangelisti
Many people in town helping with the building
Laying the foundation
The foundation is dug
Pouring the foundation
Full employment at the library
Rebar to âme this hurricane and earthquake proof
The foundation is complete
Progress
The walls are going up!
Progress!
Great progress on the library!
Making progress!! October status
October status!!
Construction as of October 15, 2013
Interior of the library-October 15, 2013
Ceiling of the gatehouse
Excited children in front of the library.
FOKAL on-site, February 2014
A planning meeting
Architect Hope Proctor pointing out the library in February 2014
The cupola on the library!
Deschapelles Library March 2015
“Fer forge” (decorative ironwork) in installed in the reading room
Librarians and others visiting the library.
Continuing work on the Deschapelles Library
Installing the windows
Bibliothèque Communitaire Deschapelles
Welcome to the Deschapelles Library! The front door.
Bibliyotek Communitaire de Deschapelles (the Community Library of Deschapelles) opened in January 2016.