
La Querencia
Our number one objective is to instill in residents – especially children and adolescents – a love for books.
About Us
Querencia is a Spanish word meaning something dreamed about, longed for, and that’s what Rodolfo and Lynn Cortina named the farm they moved to in Ecuador after retiring from their university teaching posts in the States in 2008

“I always imagined that paradise would be some kind of library.”
Jorge Luis Borges
• Lending library
Users will be issued a library card and will be invited to take books home. The collection currently stands at 6,370 volumes and is rapidly growing with donations from friends. We will also be buying books with funds provided through this campaign
• Book mobile/Outreach
We will buy a van and convert it into a book mobile that will make regular scheduled stops at the schools and in the centers of the nine communities that are part of Quiroga parish.
• Research library
While on a national level, 7% of Ecuador’s population is indigenous, that figure is a full 40% in Cotacachi; indigenous residents are members of Ecuador’s Kichwa-speaking culture. In fact, Kichwa (also spelled Quichua) is one of Ecuador’s official languages. This cultural diversity is one reason why the county is popular among students and researchers from the States and other countries. La Querencia has available fully furnished/equipped housing for persons interested in spending days, weeks, months living in the area while working on an article, book, master’s thesis, or doctoral dissertation.
• Language school/Volunteer opportunity
Cotacachi County has become a popular destination for retirees, especially from the United States. We will invite members of that community to become active participants in library activities, as volunteer English teachers as well as Kichwa and/or Spanish learners. Local residents and foreign retirees with skills they would like to share with others will be invited to use the premises for classes/events for that purpose.
• Story hours, art/story contests, theater
Library staff will invite students, teachers, and community members to participate in these activities.
• Lecture series
The library will offer talks on a wide range of topics, some by board members who include the founder/president of Cotacachi’s oldest environmental organization (Defensa y Conservación Ecológica de Intag) and a family psychologist.
• Homework assistance
For primary, secondary, and university students.
Only with your support can we continue to serve more people.
Open to th public

Tuesday – Saturday
2:00 p.m. – 4:00 p.m.

Want to be involved in this important project? We’d love to partner with you. Give us a hand with a donation–or better yet, become a sustaining donor with a monthly or annual contribution. Your gifts through Wichana Foundation are tax deductible, and you can give through PayPal or with a credit card at the link below.