Independent Libraries
Addresses of the Independent Libraries Repressions against the Independent Libraries The Resolution of the National Congress of the Delegates of the Polish Librarians Association Appeal for Cuban Librarians Solidarity with the Libraries Tourist! If you go to Cuba, take books, magazines, newspapers (esp. in Spanish) with you. The latest literature, books for children, color magazines, atlases, dictionaries, albums - everything is important and makes a crucial donation for an independent library in Cuba. Leave the book in the nearest church or bring it directly to an independent library. The independent libraries are placed in the private houses, and their owners are exposed to the constant repressions by the regime. Mind your security and the security of those you help. |
Project of the Independent Libraries in Cuba The main premise of this project was to create a neutral cultural platform - a center for the promotion of reading, for discussion, and for enlarging the cultural horizons of the people. There is no freedom of speech in Cuba nor unlimited access to the information. There is no many bookstores nor press points. Libraries, even those legal ones, are gloomy places of a poor holding rarely replenished, if ever. The holding is not properly protected nor recorded. Thus, each attempt to use the books in the biggest National Library of Jose Marti in Havana is an exclusively painful experience. Not only the state of libraries concerns. The total monopoly on the information in Cuba sanctioned by the regime is the greatest problem. The lack of free media and free publishers violates the fundamental right of citizens – the right to information. The censorship does not allow to publish the opinions that are contrary to the ideology. Cubans cannot read nor buy foreign books and a press which content is not in accordance with the Communist Party line. The news from outside that reach the Cubans are manipulated though the huge inflow of tourists deepens the need of a real and true knowledge of the world. In February 1998 during the International Book Fair in Havana, Fidel Castro said: “There are no prohibited books in Cuba but purely no money to buy them”. [En Cuba no hay libros prohibidos, sino que no hay dinero para comprarlos] This statement was an impulse for Berta del Carmen Mexidor Vazquez, an economist from the Las Tunas province, to found the project of the independent libraries that would allow a Cuban reader to have unlimited access to publications, documents and prohibited press. The first Independent Library of Felix Varela, was founded in March 3, 1998 in Las Tunas. During next 9 months twelve more libraries were established in the private houses. Currently, there are few dozens libraries spread in the island. The Independent Libraries are open for all interested. The Movement of the Independent Libraries was created as a rank-and-file civic initiative to send a clear message to the authorities and to the society about the need of crucial system transformations. The movement is an apparent example of the presence of the civil society activism and non-political form of the social resistance. There are constant repressions against the independent librarians and their families such aggressive assails, blackmails, confiscation of the books, and arrests. Director of the Project: Berta del Carmen Mexidor Vázquez Spokesperson: Ramón Humberto Colás Castillo Foreign Representative of the Independent Libraries: Directorio Revolucionario Democrático Cubano P.O.Box 110235 Hialeah, Fl. 33011 Tel: (305) 279-4416 Fax: (305) 279-0488 E-mail: director@netside.net http://www.directorio.org/ Source: Cubanet: http://www.cubanet.org/bibliotecas/proyecto.htm Ed. P
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2010-03-10
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