By Carmen Rioja
The future of society closely links the existence of libraries and the management of knowledge, information, and historical memory, gathered mainly in these enclosures where books are preserved as material products of human thought. They can be books, newspapers, magazines, and audio and other recording materials; they are included for consultation and bringing readers closer to the cultural heritage of peoples and societies.
International Library Day was established in 1997 in memory of the tragic fire at the Sarajevo university library during the Balkan war. Nearly one million books, some rare and many incunabula, perished in flames. In addition to the materials and the building, society lost a place representing a community and pluralistic meeting center that day.
International Library Day is not the only time that libraries or books were set on fire as a symbol of the power and the ability to destroy a culture. Famous historical events, such as the burning of the Library of Alexandria, the burning of the Imperial Library of Constantinople, and the burning of books ordered by Hitler, were evidence of destructive power; even in literary fiction, libraries such as that of Don Quixote, have been burned at the stake. In «Don Quixote of La Mancha,» Miguel de Cervantes Saavedra portrays the suspicious detractors of that nobleman as ignorant barbarians who accuse books of driving Don Alonso mad, who sought refuge and inspiration in novels of chivalry to strengthen his ideals for the greater good.
For the purposes of oppressors, libraries are considered dangerous. There were almost no libraries or books during my childhood in the desert north of Mexico. In my adolescence, when we lived in the city of Monterrey, I was lucky enough to find the ideal refuge for my loneliness and a cure for the soul: the Benjamin Franklin Library, a bilingual library that lent copies of complete stories by Isaac Asimov, total volumes of medical treatises from Yale University, or essays such as «The Labyrinth of Solitude» by the Mexican Nobel Prize winner, Octavio Paz. Without this possibility, I would never have reached my personal fulfillment. Later I would find other libraries, but this was my first home. Did you know that one of the most dynamic libraries is in San Miguel de Allende, Mexico? I can’t imagine my survival without its books, workshops, and people.
But today, we must add the current health and economic crises to the count of threats that cast libraries into an uncertain future. During the pandemic, on-site services were suspended, and the budget for maintaining bibliographic collections was cut. In contrast, security and social distancing measures, among other provisions required to opérate, and supplies and services, became more expensive.
According to the Institute for the Future of Education, published in the Monterrey Institute of Technology Observatory, «In the United States, the government has not been able to fully support public libraries in 27 years, 86 percent of the funds come from local coffers. In the last decade, England’s total budget to maintain its libraries dropped 25 percent, while in Canada state cuts have been so severe that in some instances they have reached 50 percent of the budget.»
If society is neglecting libraries and forgetting to procure resources for their management, where will historical memory be safeguarded? Then what is the future of humanity and the planet? This is an urgent premise or question for society about its libraries globally.
And without collections of bibliographic and journalistic articles, what is the future of free and responsible journalism? Informed journalism is undoubtedly intimately linked to access to information and historical data: to the memory of a culture.
But not everyone thinks that libraries are in danger of disappearing. For the Director of Libraries in Quincy, Massachusetts, Megan Allen, the trend is to rescue them: «Thanks to the inventiveness of professionals in the field, libraries have not only remained active, but they have also become more popular,» she told The Boston Globe.
At present, we face the urgent need to review the history of libraries and the forces that have driven them to exist and prevail to ensure their subsistence and, even more, their digitization and inclusion in state-of-the-art technologies and telecommunications to serve the growing population. However, the compiled history of the founding of libraries and librarians in Mexico as a discipline is almost nonexistent. The author María Fernández de Zamora points out only four published books, one of which is about José Vasconcelos: «Vasconcelos, el hombre del Libro; la época de Oro de las Bibliotecas.» Historian Linda Sametz de Walerstein says about Vasconcelos from Monterrey: «when, on his initiative, President Obregón founded the Secretariat of Public Education and appointed him first secretary (1921), a radical change took place in the country. Vasconcelos then dedicated all his capacity and energy to provide educational opportunities to the entire people, throughout the national territory, to spread culture and promote art.» During his tenure, Vasconcelos managed to open 2,500 public libraries throughout the country. Textbooks and copies of literary collections were printed on cheap paper.
According to the website of the General Directorate of Libraries of the Ministry of Culture in Mexico, «there were only 351 public libraries in the country, of which 108 were located in large cities, and the rest were in some of the 2,378 existing municipalities. This library infrastructure was insufficient to serve 77 million inhabitants» in 1983.
And in the United States, The Advisory Committee on Freedom of Access to Information and Freedom of Expression (FAIFE) reports 187,000 public libraries in the United States serving a population of 328 million people (1 library for every 1,754 people). Today in Mexico, there are 6,680 libraries open to the general public in the country for a population of 126 million people (1 library for every 18,862 people).
For the entire State of Guanajuato, there are only 187 libraries for a population of 6 million people. Only four libraries are in San Miguel de Allende: two depend on civil associations and two on municipal resources, generally offering lending services, a computer room, and the internet. These four libraries should provide library services to a municipal population of 174,000 people (only one library for every 43,000 people).
In Bosnia, after the destruction of their national and university library, they realized that the depressed and suffocated society needed the breath of books again. The university community summoned cellist Verdan Smajlovic, who performed Albonini’s «Adagio» from the depths of the ruins of Vijećnica to comment at the end, «the building was still breathing, despite the destruction.»
Afterward, the community rebuilt the library, and although it took several decades and many efforts, it rose from the ashes like the Phoenix.
Also, in Mexico and throughout Latin America, the numbers in the backlog or the absolute lack of library services is alarming. That is why on the occasion of the celebration of this International Day, the Atencion San Miguel newspaper team celebrates La Biblioteca Pública de San Miguel de Allende, A.C. and the entire community that has made its reading rooms, corridors, patios, and theater, living collections that are in constant dialogue with users and motivate learning. And we join in the call to the community to support these organizations with economic and human resources that are so necessary for a better future for the community.
Director Debra Broussard, as well as her predecessor Ali Zerrifi, all the Board of Directors, and the staff have done titanic work to rescue the Library and continue to seek innovative projects and resources to provide better and more services to the public.
The Library is both a cathedral of historical learning and imagination. This 2022, the theme of the commemoration is: «Connect with your library. So apply for a membership and be part of the community that builds and supports the social fabric of the future.
If you cannot attend the activities in person, look for online resources. There are magical sites such as La Biblioteca Pública, the online library of the National Autonomous University of Mexico (UNAM), and the Virtual Library of Mexico:
Sources:
https://www.milenio.com/cultura/la-tragica-historia-detras-del-dia-de-las-bibliotecas
Milenio: Libraries Day: why is it celebrated on October 24? – Grupo Milenio
Tec Observatory / Institute for the Future of Education: https://observatorio.tec.mx/edu-news/rol-de-las-bibliotecas-en-pandemia
General Directorate of Libraries https://dgb.cultura.gob.mx/directorio/index.php
International Federation of Library Associations and Institutions
