PRESS RELEASE                                                                     
Nov. 3, 2009 (Belize City, Belize) –A new organization called Angel Says: Read is collecting books from tourists to donate to the public libraries in Belize.

Angel Says: Read was founded by a former Washington Post newspaper reporter and book author as an avenue for tourists to recycle their vacation reading material. The official launch will be announced in a press conference at the Leo Bradley Library on Tuesday, Nov. 3, 2009, at 11 a.m. Angel Says: Read had its U.S. launch in October in Washington, D.C., with the ambassador of Belize, H.E. Nestor Mendez.

 “The libraries in Belize genuinely need books, and this is an easy way for tourists to help promote literacy,” said Jackie Spinner, who created the organization earlier this year while living in Belize.

The new literacy group’s motto is: Read it. Leave it. In a cultural nod, Angel Says: Read also has adopted a Belizean Kriol proverb to signify its mission of encouraging literacy one book at a time. That proverb is “One-one okro full basket,” meaning that gradually, tasks are accomplished. The name, Angel Says: Read, is a play on the title of the 1948 collection of poetry by Sir Edney Cain titled “And the Angel Says: Write.” Cain was the first managing director of the Belize Monetary Authority, the first governor of the Central Bank and the first Belizean resident ambassador to the United States.

“It’s important to inform and make people knowledgeable so they don’t believe in rumors,” said Elias Cambranes, a Belizean and Guatemalan tour operator in San Ignacio.

Some of the donated books include Waiting for Snow in Havana by Carlos Eire, Ambivalence by Jonathan Garfinkel and Olive Kitteridge, the Pulitzer Prize winning novel by Elizabeth Strout..

Elzena Labriel, the librarian at the Punta Gorda branch of the Belize National Library Service, said the library needs new releases and current reference books.

“A lot of people come in and they want to read,” she said. “They don’t want to read romances. They want a book, a real book.”  

The board of directors for Angel Says: Read (www.angelsaysread.com) includes such Belizean notables as author Felicia Hernandez; Lawrence Vernon, principal librarian of the Belize National Library Service; Evan “Mose” Hyde, general manager of KREM; Montserrat Casademunt, publisher of Cubola Productions; Neulin Nelson Villanueva, dean of St. John’s College Junior College; and Consuela Godfrey, president of the Belize Reading Council.

“There is nothing more important to the development of a country than people who have the ability to read, question and use information to improve their condition and those of others,” said Villanueva, who is on study leave this academic year.

Casademunt said reading is not part of life for most Belizeans.

“The bookshelf is not part of the living room culture,” she said. “Books are not readily available.”

Darla Mallory, who with her husband, Rick, owns the Coral House Inn in Punta Gorda, said she was surprised how little Belizeans read when the American couple brought their property in 2003.

“I think it’s one of the most important things,” Darla Mallory said. “You pick up a book and learn about people, other cultures, different perspectives. I want Belizeans to love to read, to value books.

University of Belize lecturer Mathias Vairez Jr., the acting campus administrator at the Toledo campus, will coordinate student involvement with the organization, setting up a way for participants to earn service hours as required by the government assistance awards to the university.

“It’s going to allow the tourists to give a positive contribution to the society knowing the importance of reading materials for our students,” Vairez said. “It’s not just about the coming and relaxing and having a good time. They are going to leave something invaluable that will have a lasting effect on the community.”

Angel Says: Read is placing strategic drop-boxes in major tourist centers throughout the country. The Belize Tourism Board has officially endorsed the project. Business owners can download the literacy logo and a letter to their guests at www.angelsaysread.com.

PRESS ADVISORY

Nov. 3, 2009 (Belize City, Belize) –A new non-profit called Angel Says: Read is collecting books from tourists to donate to the public libraries in Belize.

Angel Says: Read was founded by a former Washington Post newspaper reporter and book author, Jackie Spinner. The official launch will be announced in a press conference at the Leo Bradley Library on Tuesday, Nov. 3, 2009, at 11 a.m. Angel Says: Read had its U.S. launch in October in Washington, D.C., with the ambassador of Belize, H.E. Nestor Mendez.

The board of directors for Angel Says: Read (www.angelsaysread.com) includes such Belizean notables as author Felicia Hernandez; Lawrence Vernon, principal librarian of the Belize National Library Service; Evan “Mose” Hyde, general manager of KREM; Montserrat Casademunt, publisher of Cubola Productions; Neulin Nelson Villanueva, dean of St. John’s College Junior College; and Consuela Godfrey, president of the Belize Reading Council.

University of Belize lecturer Mathias Vairez Jr., the acting campus administrator at the Toledo campus, will coordinate student involvement with the organization, setting up a way for participants to earn service hours as required by the government assistance awards to the university.

Angel Says: Read is placing strategic drop-boxes in major tourist centers throughout the country. The Belize Tourism Board has officially endorsed the project.

For more information, please contact Jackie Spinner at 666-9743 or jackiespinner@mac.com. Jackie is currently in Belize and can be reached by telephone or e-mail.

The press is cordially invited to attend. The public is welcome.

Elzena Labriel, librarian at the Punta Gorda branch of the Belize National Library Service, where Angel Says: Read 
donated a second set of books on Oct. 23.

BELIZE LIBRARY WELCOMES STOCK OF NEW BOOKS

Oct. 23, 2009 (Punta Gorda, Belize) – Nadir Nunez, a 19-year-old high school student in this southern coastal town, owns a single book, a gift from a Canadian who sent it by mail.

If he wants other books to read, he goes to the public library in town, which has no budget to buy new books. It relies on donations, and many of them come from well-meaning charity workers who leave tattered paperbacks stained with mildew, their jackets torn off.

“I want to read books, good books that you can’t get here,” Nnez said.

A new organization called Angel Says: Read wants to help young Belizeans like Nunez have greater access to reading material by donating quality books from tourists to the public library system.

Jackie Spinner, founder and executive director of Angel Says: Read, brought a second donation to the library in Punta Gorda this morning. The group donated its first box of books from tourists in May.

The books included Waiting for Snow in Havana by Carlos Eire, Ambivalence by Jonathan Garfinkel and Olive Kitteridge, the Pulitzer Prize winning novel by Elizabeth Strout.

“We take books for granted in other parts of the world,” Spinner said. “Belize has very few bookstores. For many people, the library is their only access to reading material.

Elzena Labriel, the librarian at the Punta Gorda branch of the Belize National Library Service, said the library has about 6,000 books in its collection. She said the library needs new releases and current reference books.

“A lot of people come in and they want to read,” she said. “They don’t want to read romances. They want a book, a real book.”