ABSTRACT
Numerous academics and development practitioners have criticized the role of microcredit and microfinance in creating social and community discord and even increasing economic difficulty rather than alleviating poverty. Community members are savvy people. The community where the project took place is a small village outside of Condega, Nicaragua, located approximately 190 kilometers north of the capital city of Managua. Libraries are a popular project with Peace Corps volunteers, in fiscal year 2011 30% of all volunteers in the organization reported that a library project was part of either their primary or secondary work as a volunteer. A shift in the development mindset needs to take place that recognizes the importance and value of local knowledge and insights. While this is very difficult in bureaucratic, large-scale, development projects, it is a much more feasible goal within micro-development.
