Local teacher helps launch library in the Caribbean

By AIDA KARIM
news@readthereporter.com

For many students, reading is as easy as a 10-minute drive to the local library. For children in the British Virgin Islands, accessibly isn’t as simple. This Indiana teacher is here to change that.

In honor of International Literacy Day on Sept. 8, The Reporter spoke with Jessenia Espino, a credit recovery English teacher at Indiana Digital Learning School (INDLS), about her passion for bringing books to underserved communities.

Espino said she had always known she was going to be a teacher, even though she doubted it when the idea was first presented to her.

“My teacher told me I was going to be a teacher when I was in first grade. I didn’t believe her,” Espino said.

Now, not only is Espino an educator, but one with an international reach, in part thanks to COVID-19.

During the pandemic, Espino and her son discovered a new approach to education.

Espino said she had to find a new alternative for school for her son because the “brick-and-mortar” setting wasn’t working well with him.

“So when we went into year two of COVID, we had to find a different option for him because he wasn’t able to go back to in-person school,” Espino said. “And that’s how we found INDLS.”

Espino told The Reporter she started working with INDLS as a substitute teacher until she eventually took over the class she was long-term subbing for. Five years later, Espino now teaches Gothic literature for grades 10 through 12.

According to Espino, she regularly tries to be more involved in the community. She said, “I usually find books at garage sales and Goodwill, and I’ll fill up the little free libraries around Hamilton County.”

Espino expanded her impact beyond Hamilton County amid her fateful trip to her “secondary community” in the British Virgin Islands.

Two years ago, Espino and her boyfriend visited the island on vacation. While staying at their hotel Espino passed by a group of kids playing on the beach.

“I had one of my INDLS shirts on and one of the kids came up and started asking me ‘what’s Indiana Digital?’” Espino said. “And so I explained our school to them.”

As the group continued to talk about their differences in schooling, Espino said, “One thing I heard from them was, ‘it must be really nice to be able to go get a book to read whenever you feel like it.’”

Espino asked a nearby adult about the children’s situation and she confirmed, “‘Yes, there’s no library on our island. There’s not even really a library on the big island.’”

Espino was shocked.

“I didn’t realize access to books was something many students take for granted.” Espino said, “So I just kind of sat with that and I thought, ‘Oh, maybe I could bring down some books and we can do a little free library kind of like we do up in the States.’”

Six months down the road, Espino saw a post from one of her friends on the island where she learned how a local school was planning on starting a library, but they were in need of a lot more books. They were looking for visitors who could bring a book or two each to help the library get started.

“I thought I can do better than a book or two,” Espino said. “And we ended up taking down 127 books last year that were donated by my friends, my co-workers, neighbors, and family.”

Building on the legacy, Espino is currently in the process of organizing a campaign with Scholastic Books to raise money and buy more books for the library in the British Virgin Islands.

Upon reflecting about the importance of literature, Espino said she understands reading as a place for children to imagine new worlds.

“I know when I was a kid, reading was always another way for me to escape.” Espino said, “If I was having a bad day at school or just a rough week in general as a kid, finding a good story would help me get into a different kind of headspace.”

Espino said reading about a character she related to and their journey navigating conflict inspired her “willingness to succeed in life.”

For more information on International Literacy Day, go to unesco.org/en/days/literacy.