A Bunch of Books, a Suitcase, and Many Trips by Boat: Chronicle of a Librarian Project in the Galapagos Islands.

The Galapagos Islands (Galapagos Province, Ecuador) are an archipelago located in the eastern Pacific, about 560 miles west from the Ecuadorian coast. Known for their unique biodiversity and for the visit of Charles Darwin in 1835 aboard the HMS Beagle , the islands are currently a highly protected area and, at the same time, witness to strong tourist pressure. The local population is about 25,000 stable inhabitants, all of them subject to severe regulations. In such a territory—full of debates and contradictions related, above all, to conservation policies—libraries and spaces for building knowledge, recovering memories, and debating informed decisions have been practically nonexistent. This article chronicles the implementation of the first mobile library program in the archipelago, emphasizing the natural and social contexts and the author's personal impressions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]