More than a library: bringing people together through a reading marathon

Chispa Project – Honduras

What happens when people from 24 countries and four continents come together to read for a shared purpose? Read for Change happens. This June, Chispa Project launched this reading marathon that connected 632 readers around the world with one clear goal: to fund a new library for the Dr. Miguel Paz Barahona School in Pinalejo, Santa Bárbara, Honduras.

The mechanics were simple and powerful: friends and small sponsoring businesses — including Coffeestamp Roasters and the Honduran American Association — pledged to donate for each minute read. Participants logged 177,632 minutes of reading and unlocked 100% of the promised funds.

Twelve volunteers from the United States traveled to Honduras to install and inaugurate the library in July, while Honduran teachers, families, and students prepared the space and trained in strategies to strengthen reading.

The result: 601 students with access to 1,280 books, distributed across 20 classrooms that took part simultaneously in one of the largest inaugurations Chispa Project has organized this year.

Before the library, teachers would print short stories for students to copy into their notebooks. Now, children call their friends to share funny pages and favorite illustrations. Some didn’t want to leave on inauguration day and kept asking: “Can we really come here every day to read?” That question says it all.