The Europe Challenge

Challenge team: Biblioteca Municipal Miguel Arguisjuela Paterna Del Campo and Talyata

Population of Paterna Del Campo, Andalucia: 3,484

Summary: A local library in rural Andalucia in Spain is working with the local community through storytelling and book clubs to share cultural opportunities and challenge disinformation.

Paterna Del Campo in the province of Huelva in Andalucia, Spain is a small rural town dominated by agriculture with an ageing population – many of whom have limited access to books, theatre and film. 

Working together with the local community, the local library – Biblioteca Pública Municipal Miguel Arguisjuela – wants to change this by developing activities, from storytelling to book clubs, that can provide cultural opportunities for the people of Paterna for the first time. 

The challenge team has consolidated two successful activities: a children’s creative workshop touching on topics including climate change and racism; and a book club for adults dealing with topics ranging from immigration to feminism. 

Their goal is to transform the traditional image of the library as a place that’s just for books and turn it into a space for debate and reflection on the challenges of today’s world – and to use this model to inspire other libraries across Europe too.

The challenge team said: “Many people only have the information that is given in the media such as television and the problem is that this information is not reliable. It is important for Europe that people in the rural world can have authentic and truthful information about these issues so that hate speech does not flourish.”

Local solutions to change Europe