It was at the wheel of a white van, which was colourfully illustrated and loaded with books, that, on the morning of 7 May, João Ferreira Oliveira arrived at the Aldeia do Xisto, Figueira, in the county of Proença-a-Nova, and started the VIAGEM ao INTERIOR for books, people and the country.

As fate would have it, the beginning of this adventure coincided with the return to work of librarian Nuno Marçal, who has been touring the county’s villages with his Mobile Library for about 15 years. Over time, previously unknown faces appeared at the open doors of their homes and became family. These people “carry a lot of knowledge and know-how. They are in fact human libraries, even if they cannot read or write”, says Nuno. “I am very privileged to have gained their friendships”, he concludes.

The arrival of the Mobile Library provides “moments to meet and share”, says Joana Pereira, from Casa Ti’Augusta. He has enjoyed reading for as long as he can remember, and so waits joyfully “for the news that Nuno brings every fortnight”.

And in the afternoon, it was with joy and enthusiasm that the children of the Sarzedas Primary School received the Travelling Library. A demanding public, who were not backward in coming forward with their questions, they gave their opinions about the books, choosing the next story or providing an account of their daily life, drawing smiles from the adults present. “Every evening I read to my sister”, said one of the little ones.

“You can read a book anywhere. But few places are as beautiful as this one” . João Ferreira Oliveira is referring to the Lavandeira Fluvial Park in the Aldeia do Xisto of Janeiro de Cima. Here, the Zêzere reigns over a landscape whose stillness invites you to a dip in the books and a reading that captivates little human beings walking through it.

There was also the opportunity to share stories with the students from the EB1 School in Janeiro de Cima, where the enthusiasm was echoed.
 

In the Aldeia do Xisto of Fajão, in the county of Pampilhosa da Serra, the churchyard was the meeting point. Kids and grown-ups have got to know this project and certainly contributed to one of its objectives: arriving at the end with the van empty of books, but full of stories.

The Itinerant Library also went to the Aldeia do Xisto of Cerdeira, in the serra da Lousã, to learn the story of Kerstin Thomas, a German woman who settled there more than 20 years ago and learned Portuguese through books.

“It was intense. It went well. It was beautiful. I have read dozens of stories. I gave away almost 100 books. I saw in the kids a sparkle in their eyes and an ease with the stories that you don’t always find in the large centres. Moralistic speeches aside, I came to value even more the work of teachers and librarians who walk from one area to another doing what I am doing for jthis one time”, João Ferreira Oliveira writes in his summary on the Instagram page of the initiative, which is now heading to the Terra Fria Route (Trás-os-Montes) and will also pass through the Alentejo Interior and the Algarve Interior.