{"id":24159,"date":"2019-08-19T21:01:20","date_gmt":"2019-08-19T21:01:20","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/miamifoundation.org\/?p=24159"},"modified":"2019-08-20T19:10:04","modified_gmt":"2019-08-20T19:10:04","slug":"a-library-in-the-park-the-challenge-helped-me-make-it-happen","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/miamifoundation.org\/blog\/a-library-in-the-park-the-challenge-helped-me-make-it-happen\/","title":{"rendered":"“A LIBRARY IN THE PARK? THE CHALLENGE HELPED ME MAKE IT HAPPEN.”"},"content":{"rendered":"
[vc_row css_animation=”” row_type=”row” use_row_as_full_screen_section=”no” type=”full_width” angled_section=”no” text_align=”left” background_image_as_pattern=”without_pattern”][vc_column][vc_column_text]Editor\u2019s Note: Suze Guillaume is a 2018 <\/em>Public Space Challenge<\/em><\/a> winner and a <\/em>Miami Fellows<\/em><\/a> alum (Class X). With a Challenge grant and connections with community leaders made during her Fellows experience, Suze took her small idea \u2013 mini book-sharing boxes \u2013 and turned it into a big literary outdoor festival, Liberty City Reads Fest. <\/em><\/p>\n

I had a vision for a pop-library in the park. The Public Space Challenge<\/a> and my Miami Fellows<\/a> experience helped make it a reality.<\/p>\n

With the Miami Fellows, I visited local daycare centers in Liberty City, the neighborhood where I grew up and in downtown Miami. While at one of the centers, I connected with Terry Rutherford<\/a> of the Miami Children\u2019s Initiative (MCI). She asked me to stay in touch with her, and I did. That\u2019s one of the lessons I learned during my 15-month Fellows journey \u2013 partnerships and building relationships with community leaders are vital to bring ideas to life.<\/p>\n

A second lesson I learned: step out of your comfort zone. While going through our Fellows leadership lab led by Florida International University\u2019s Center for Leadership<\/a>, I decided to apply for The Miami Foundation\u2019s 2018 Public Space Challenge\u2013 and won. The idea was simple: bring more local authors and literary work to kids, teens and parents in the community, expose children to books with characters that look like them, and get more people outdoors. The project, Beyond Literacy Pop-up<\/a> (B-LIT), installed colorful pop-up libraries, painted by local artists, in various parks and filled them with books by hometown authors. The Challenge taught me how to budget effectively for my project, work with the resources\u00a0that I had access to and connect with people who believed in moving our city forward.<\/p>\n