To advance literacy, inspire lifelong learning and transform lives.

Begun as a lending library by community activist Jane Stern in 1974, JSDCL quickly became a bilingual learning center for language, literacy and after-school programs as a 501(c) (3) non-profit corporation.

The municipality of Dorado provided space for several expansions over the years, and in 2001 the Ángel Ramos Foundation recognized the library’s contributions with the prestigious Tina Hills Community Service Prize. The library now occupies 8,125 sq. ft. in Dorado’s Luis Muñoz Marin municipal government building and has become a learning center, unique in Puerto Rico for the breadth and depth of services provided.

JSDCL’s computer labs, children’s play area, and meeting rooms allow for a variety of activities for children, teens, adults, and seniors from Dorado’s richly varied population.

As the library’s mission has evolved in the digital age, the major goals of its community outreach to underserved populations are to provide programs that support learning and supplement and enrich the education of public school students; to provide computer training to Puerto Rico citizens from children to seniors through courses ranging from basic use to an advanced IT curriculum; and to provide access to computers and the internet through our computer labs, laptops and reliable Wi-Fi.

Legislative funding has enabled the library to open six tiny “after-school” satellite libraries in rural pockets of Dorado, Vega Alta and Vega Baja. These libraries echo JSDCL goals with programs for adults and children, early education play areas, children’s books and toys, computers and connection via reliable internet to JSDCL’s digital resources.