We are excited to announce a partnership between Libraries Without Borders US (LWB US) and El Timpano. LWB US works across the country to empower communities by facilitating access to reliable information, learning opportunities, and cultural resources. Given our deep mission alignment, LWB US and El Tímpano are working together to respond to evolving community needs in East Oakland and across the wider Bay Area.

Together, the organizations are funding a community organizer to identify the information gaps facing Latino and Mayan immigrants in the area. The organizer will lead outreach events and survey the community, being especially attentive to critical issues like housing assistance, digital inclusion, and COVID-19 vaccination access and recovery.

By early 2022, LWB US and El Tímpano will develop a plan for ongoing in-person programming and outreach that leverages the expertise of both organizations and meets the evolving information needs of Latino and Mayan immigrants and community members. 

To lead this work, we’ve brought on the newest member of our team, community organizer tania quintana. You may see them around town at libraries, swap meets, and street festivals. 

Madeleine Bair is an award-winning journalist and media developer, and the founder of El Tímpano. Madeleine has been carrying a microphone in her backpack since she belonged to the Oakland bureau of the Peabody Award-winning youth media organization, Children’s Express. As Senior Program Manager at the international nonprofit, WITNESS, she led a pioneering initiative dedicated to advancing the use of citizen video as a tool for human rights. Madeleine has taught radio production to young adults, worked on a morning show at Chicago Public Radio, and produced multimedia for Human Rights Watch. Her stories have appeared in the Washington Post, the San Francisco Chronicle, Colorlines, and Orion, and broadcast on PRI’s The World and Independent Lens. She lives with her partner and son in Oakland, where she spends her free time making mixtapes, dancing cumbia, and exploring the region on bike.