BILIJ: A Children's Literature Interactive Space from the Global South

Abstract

61.2 – 2023 | 69 The Interactive Latin American Library for Children and Youth (hereafter BILIJ, the acronym for its Spanish name, Biblioteca Interactiva Latinoamericana Infantil y Juvenil) opened its doors for the first time on January 8, 2022, in Santiago, Chile. This space was born out of a collective dream that began four years ago in Chile, where Latin American children’s literature was at the heart of the discussion. A vast and diverse territory comprising twenty countries with their own heritage and cultural richness, Latin America is often talked about as one homogenous region. Naturally, this misrepresentation makes its way into literary discussions, where distinguishing Latin American identities can become troublesome and their depictions can appear as deficient or incomplete. Luckily, writers, illustrators, and publishers of children’s literature have skillfully made efforts to put at the center of their works topics that affect Latin American childhood and have offered creative means to do so, achieving aesthetically and thematically engaging books. Although it is impossible to portray—or even discuss—Latin America as one uniform, unvaried region, it is still possible to find the common threads weaving this extensive identity while giving visibility to each territory. Furthermore, the mostly white and anglophonic exposure within children’s literature in the area for many decades has resulted in a lack of mirrors (using Rudine Sims Bishop’s useful analogy) and a lack of openings to understand their experiences and to be seen. Needless to say, this affects not only Latin American children, but also all the minority groups outside dominant social groups. All of those experiences, feelings, cultural differences, and knowledges that were, for the most part, suppressed or ignored in children’s traditional literature have made their way into a recent trend in publishing and research, where efforts are being made to stray away from ethnocentric ways to read the world through children’s books. This challenge instills the urgency for a regional library that could bring together the work of creators of the region and strengthen the sense of belonging to a common culture and identity. It started with the creation of Fundación Palabra, a nonprofit reading-promotion organization aiming to reinforce the bond between young people and reading, culture, science, and art through dialogue and enjoyment with books and cultural objects from Latin America and the world. Within four years, the foundation started BILIJ—a lively space driven by interactivity and the Latin American spirit. The interactivity is fostered through engagement BILIJ: A Children’s Literature Interactive Space from the Global South