Lots of books can be found in the corners of students’ rooms, piled up and covered with dust.

Wichita State graduate student Cecilia Martinez Gomez sees opportunities in those books. They could be gifts for students in her home country of Paraguay.

Gomez is pursuing a master’s in public administration and certificate in nonprofit management. In 2011, she visited an all girls’ school in Paraguay, saw a problem and thought of a solution.

“‘Proyecto: Bibliotecas’ (Project: Libraries) started in April 2011 when I visited an all girls’ high school (Centro Educativo Mbaracayu) and a children’s grade school seven hours away from my home town, the capital city of Paraguay, Asuncion,” Gomez said.

Gomez spoke with the schools’ teachers and students and discovered there was no library available to them.

“I’ve always thought that education, opportunity and democracy go side by side and that an equation without one of them could have serious consequences in a child’s future,” Gomez said. “I believe if more kids have access to books and reading programs in Paraguay, they will develop analytical and critical thinking skills that will help them make informed decisions about their future.”

Gomez got permission to start a book drive and used Facebook, blogs and emails and collected 2,601 books for the all girls’ and grade school. She collected 1,000 books using the same method in 2000.

The donations included DVD’s, new and used books, magazines and school supplies. Most of the donations come from all over Paraguay. In May 2012, Gomez took 50 books from Kansas and has received support from Isabel Allende, a Chilean American writer who is widely known and heard about Gomez’s efforts.

Carol Wilson works at The Slope Ski Shop on East Central and invites students without a place to go during the holidays to dinner. That is how she met Gomez last Easter.

“At first she was sort quiet but then she started talking about the projects she does and it is great to see someone so young who gets it, that education is the answer to so many social problems there and all over the world,” Wilson said.

Different schools need different books. In 2011, Gomez said there was a need for biology, natural sciences, and English literature books.

“The students at the Colegio Nacional Emilio Gomez Zelada wanted books to have better chances to get ready for college,” Gomez said. She said that school needs books in accounting, law, the arts, math and chemistry.

It takes seven hours to transport the books from the city’s capital Asuncion to the schools, plus the time to transport books from Kansas to Paraguay. Gomez’s friends have made sure there is nothing stopping the books from arriving.

With Gomez living in Wichita, she makes sure there is always someone at the schools to care for the libraries after the books arrive. About 300 students are enrolled in the girls’ high school, the Colegio Nacional Emilio Gomez Zelada School and the grade school. All of them now have access to the books.

Gomez’s dream is to start a nonprofit organization in Paraguay that provides books, libraries and reading programs to schools and communities in Paraguay. Wilson said Gomez is on the right track.

“To some it may not seem like she is doing much but to the kids receiving them, those books are a huge thing for them,” Wilson said.