An Oasis in the Desert: Building Colombia’s Peace Libraries

For more than twenty-five years, Diego Hernán García has worked as a bookseller and a teacher for SENA (Servicio Nacional de Aprendizaje, or National Learning Service), a state organization responsible for providing complementary and graduate training to young people and those who have been unable to access public or private universities. SENA’s main objective is to provide job skills training to program “apprentices,” helping them strengthen and expand their abilities.

“In Colombia, SENA is often referred to as the ‘University of the Poor,’” García explained in an email interview. “SENA fulfills training goals for marginalized populations such as Indigenous communities, Afro-descendants, those displaced by violence, farmers, the unemployed, etc.”

In 2004, García had the opportunity to train the first group of demobilized combatants as part of the Justice, Peace, and Reparation process. This experience reshaped his understanding of armed conflict and the importance of extending a helping hand to society as a whole. During President Santos’s peace process in 2016, García trained more than ten groups of demobilized members of the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC).

García shared, “They specifically asked me [if], since I was a teacher and owned a bookstore, I [would] help them establish a library so they could read and learn independently. It would also provide a meeting place for them on many topics, something libraries should be committed to in the twenty-first century. That’s when I began drafting the idea and developing the project.”

García believes that libraries are “an oasis in the desert.” In every place he has had the chance to work — whether building community, sharing knowledge, or helping others learn — he has seen that the library serves as a training ground for citizens. It’s a space where everyone has access to knowledge and, just as importantly, is treated equally. A library cannot favor one person over another; it levels the playing field, offering the same opportunities to all. García believes that peace in Colombia must be built on the foundation of equality.

Take action today to support libraries!

He said, “The fact that demobilized combatants want to educate themselves and raise their children so that the cycle of violence isn’t repeated in their lives is a very interesting point to consider when building a country. A Colombian can be denied entry to many places, but not, by right, to a library. That’s integration. That’s where we have to start. The right to read whatever you want, on whatever topics you want, cannot be denied. It’s a universal right: the ability to touch, read, and browse any book you want. The first right you’ve earned is to have access to a library that doesn’t isolate you, that integrates you. And even more so if it’s yours. That’s where the demand for the peace process must begin.”

García believes that education is the only path to building a new world for demobilized combatants and veterans of the security forces in Latin America. Education facilitates understanding the roots of socioeconomic problems that can lead to conflict. He believes that with knowledge, one can find the solution to what others wrongly seek to solve with weapons. 

“In the many workshops I’ve taught to demobilized and veteran members of the security forces,” García said, “I’ve seen how the power of reading, coupled with support throughout the process, can have the impact that allows them to return to civil society, just like the prodigal son.”

The libraries will offer a range of materials, including general literature, technical books, and training books. Drawing partly on the training they received in the military, the demobilized FARC members were required to study and thoroughly read every objective or document assigned to them for each mission. Reading helps security force veterans advance and build a better career, even if they have been physically affected by war.

Sign the pledge to vote for libraries!

These veterans, who have defended civil society, understand deeply the power of books and reading — both in their own lives and in the wider world. Books inspire reflection and debate, open minds to dialogue, and help close the doors to violence. García confirmed that he has witnessed this many times and knows that it holds true for this project.

Education builds competencies grounded in emotional intelligence—a quality García believes is key. He thinks it is more important to be a person than to have a degree hanging on a wall. García argues that all former armed groups in Colombia must be taught, through training in leadership, entrepreneurship, coaching, and teamwork, how social and human capital are built in the societies that lead global education rankings. He believes that human talent is the greatest asset a society, a country, or a nation can possess.

This project includes training in leadership, teamwork, and service—skills that García believes are important for peace and community life. He recalled that in 1990, “Nelson Mandela was released after a brutal and abhorrent twenty-seven-year sentence. He gave a speech to thousands, perhaps millions of followers, inviting them to take their knives, their guns, and their hatreds and resentments and throw them into the sea. Some of his followers booed him, but the rest remained silent. That is leadership! Someone capable of correcting their actions, someone capable of asking forgiveness for their actions, and inviting their followers to take another path — that is leadership. Only through leadership can a new country be built and prevent repeating the mistakes of the past.”

García believes that constructive leadership will build a new Colombia and heal the wounds of past violence. “There is great leadership potential among former FARC mobilized members and among veterans of the security forces,” he said.

Sign the petition to fight book bans!

García has faced several challenges in trying to make the Peace Libraries a reality. Colombia’s government has not shown interest in the project, and while some international organizations have been supportive of the Peace Libraries, they have been timid about backing the project. However, a multi-donor peace fund has supported the peace process, particularly those from Europe, the United States, and Canada.

García reflected, “We continue forward because we know it is a noble and beautiful project worth persisting, resisting, and never ceasing to insist on. This project is only viable from an international perspective, because on the part of the state, despite its rhetoric, it is not a priority for demobilized combatants and security force veterans to receive training and contribute solutions to a post-conflict society. They will understand the role we are assuming.

Jorge Luis Borges, the greatest Latin American writer of all time, at least in my opinion, once said something like: ‘We must support causes that seem lost, despite everything, because triumphant causes already have supporters.’ That says a lot about our project.”

The Peace Libraries project has objectives, goals, a framework, indicators, results, a budget, a timeline, and a group of regional institutions in the state that support and oversee the project, providing a clear path from start to finish. Those interested in sponsoring García’s project or learning more about the Peace Libraries may reach out to García via email: [email protected].