Oral history
Returned Peace Corps Volunteer Collection
RPCV-ACC-2020-007
Wendy Schumacher served as a Peace Corps volunteer in Morocco from 1999 to 2001 in a library science program. The small 6-year pilot recruited American librarians to help Moroccan libraries adopt an open-stack library system, thereby increasing access to books by students of all ages and the general public. Schumacher worked in Morocco at the beginning of the internet age so much of her work also involved helping organizations develop a web presence. After her first assignment cataloging the library collection of an English-language university in Rabat didn't work out because the university was essentially closed, she worked with a USAID-funded elementary school project to help them develop a web presence for several programs. She did similar work with the Jewish Museum in Casablanca and a school supported through the Chicago Sister Cities program. She discusses resistance to this change by the male functionaries, who had previously controlled access to books. She also discusses the impact of Peace Corps service on her life, the long-term friendships she made, her return to Morocco after 10 years, and her continuing involvement in Peace Corps third goal-related activities. Interviewed and recorded by Evelyn Ganzglass, September 28, 2019. 2 digital audio files (web streaming files combined into 1 file).