The Latin American world is changing dramatically; a new culture is imposed leaving behind human and Christian values that were the sustenance, the basis and the realization of the human being. Among them, reading the book and at the same time, gratitude. Both are framed and reflected in a posthumous tribute of gratitude and affection to an Italian sister of the Congregation of the Franciscan Missionary Sisters of the Sacred Heart: Sister Vittorina Colla Gallina.

We were gathered by the opening ceremony of a new library for the great school “Bicentennial Felmer Niklischek”, Austral and beautiful lakeside city of Puerto Varas - Chile. An event that acquires considerable importance from the moment the book is replaced by technology, which is faster, instantaneous, easy to access, accessible from anywhere and at low cost but, which cannot dethrone the treasure that is hidden in books, that open the doors of human life and that are projected into eternity, because there is no human and divine value that is not found in a book.

"Of the various instruments invented by man, the most surprising is the book; all the others are extensions of his body... Only the book is an extension of imagination and memory" (Jorge Luis Borges).

The memory and gratitude to Sister Vittorina, as well as the enhancement of the book, is concretized, for example, with the inauguration of the library in the presence of the authorities of different sectors: the mayor of the City, the educational authorities of the Laura Leroux Educational Foundation of the Franciscan Missionary Sisters of the Sacred Heart, of the Catholic schools, of the local Church, of the teachers, support professionals, educational assistants, pupils, parents, delegates and friends of the Lyceum.

In the life of Sister Vittorina there have been many initiatives for the benefit of the school, such as the extension of the Professional Technical Teaching in 1987 or the construction of pavilions, laboratories and halls for education, the recognition of academic excellence and the new avant-garde that favour the entire community. All this was done for the benefit of the community: this was her true mission.

Today, this beautiful place, full of meaning and challenges, is blessed. A priest of the congregation of the Divine Word, invokes and transmits God’s blessing to those present and to the Library "Sister Vittorina" while the commemorative plaques are unveiled and the religious President of the Educational Foundation Laura Leroux cuts the tricolour ribbon that is delivered to all those present in memory of this event.

In this way, this place dedicated to reading, research and entertainment is inaugurated through the good use of the books that are waiting to be opened here to convey all their wisdom. To this end, we need not only time, often unavailable, but also educational policies that promote and address the importance of playful reading, from the childhood and youth stages to the adult ones, sometimes forgotten. «You Read and you guide, if you do not read, you will be led by others» (Saint Teresa of Avila).