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Bibliotecas populares in Cordoba

Published March 14th, 2006 in argentina libraries | No Comments »

From an article in La Voz del Interior (Cordoba, Argentina), it is reported that the 200 popular libraries in the province may close from lack of funding. The Federacion de Bibliotecas Populares de la provincia de Cordoba (Febipo) has been been fighting for 11 years to get a law passed that would divert a part of the profits from lotery sales to support libraries. This fight has been, as of yet, without success.

The 200 libraries have approximately 100,000 patrons. They presently receive some funds (3000-8000 pesos a year) from the Comision Nacional de Bibliotecas Populares (Conabip). But that does not cover all expenses, least of all book buying. Most of the books they receive are donated and don’t really correspond to patron wants and needs. The librarians (if they can afford one), are paid about 700 pesos a month (about 230$US), barely enough to get by if it’s the librarian’s sole income.

Popular libraries

Published October 14th, 2005 in argentina libraries | 1 Comment »

Yesterday I visited Biblioteca Cordoba, a public library in the middle of the city, funded by the province of Cordoba. It’s a beautiful building inside and out. Unfortunately, when you enter, it’s simply a large room, with a dozen tables, one computer for a catalogue search (DOS) and one card catalogue. There are doors all around the room, behind which hide employees, books (closed stacks), meeting rooms for staff, etc. What’s more discouraging is the process for getting a library card. Like in some North American public libraries, you have to bring ID and proof of residence (utility bill). But you also have to have what they call a “warrantor”. This is someone, 21 years of age or older, with ID, proof of residence (a utility bill), and the warrantor’s last pay stub. They want to make sure that if you loose/destroy a book, someone will be able to pay for it, if you can’t.

Fortunately, this restrictive concept of “public library” is somewhat compensated by what are called popular libraries. Popular libraries, if I understood correctly, are created by interested people that wish to see a library in their community. Funding comes from many sources, from membership fees to Federal Government support (CONABIP). Some popular libraries are in indigent communities (favelas) and are usually created to promote literacy among children. Here are links to some of these libraries (obviously the richest, since they have websites) but there are many more that exist. In Cordoba province, there are at least 200.

Can I use this computer?

Published October 4th, 2005 in argentina libraries | 1 Comment »

Today I visited the biology library and the economic sciences library. Again, both of these libraries had closed stacks (books and periodicals). The biology library consisted of a room with tables and a counter with one computer access to the catalogue and a place to ask for the books you need. There was another room where you could access the periodicals collection. There was perhaps 70 current journals that were out on the shelves. The retrospective collection and donated journals were in closed stacks. No browsing allowed. In the periodicals room, there were 2 computers with internet access, but you needed permission to use the computers. There doesn’t seem to be access to electronic journals. Internet use is simply for doing research on the internet.

The biology library has just created their webpage, but I don’t think it’s online yet. I may have a chance to look at in the coming days. I had a chance to look at the closed stacks of the book collection of the biology library. Half of the collection consisted of rare books and pre 1950’s books. I was told that these books were used, but that they intended to convert this part of the collection into a museum.

The economic science library had more computers, but again, no one was using them because you need to ask permission to use them, and according to the man at the desk, they are very slow and not very reliable. This library had both the DOS catalogue and the Windows version of the catalogue that was a little more user friendly. However, the card catalogue was also still in use. Apparently, this library has a website, but it seems to be down at the moment, so I cannot access it.

I hope to have a closer look at some of the libraries in the coming days or weeks… and when my spanish improves, I hope to be able to give explanations that are more than just what I am seeing as I walk through the libraries.

Do you remember DOS?

Published September 30th, 2005 in argentina libraries | 2 Comments »

I have been in Argentina only a week now. I have quickly visited 3 libraries at the Universidad Nacional de Cordoba. The libraries I saw were mostly closed stacks, and this seems to be the norm in all the libraries of the University. But my shock was much greater when I saw the catalogue. The library is using a UNESCO database called CDS/ISIS. The version that the library has is a DOS Version. Yes… DOS. The catalogue is also accompanied by a card catalogue, since apparently it is not very easy to find the books that one is looking for. There is no Internet connection in the libraries. Some libraries also have an EBSCO subscription, but I was not able to access a computer to see what databases they have, and if it is simply a network (local) database. (but I have a feeling that it is).

It was very disheartening, and mostly, it made me take a step back and think of all our efforts in North America for better database or catalogue interfaces, better library webpages, more information literacy, better overall access to our collections (digital or physical). It seems, in light of what I saw, so far removed from the reality of librarianship here in Argentina.

Should universities in North America adopt a library in South America? Should we double our efforts in pushing open access? Should we help push for wireless technology and access in South America (it can be cheap and easy) to have internet in campus libraries. I know there are many people who talk about this, who work towards this. But here in Cordoba, the need for all this and more is quite alarming.

In other news at the University, the professors and the students are now in the middle of negotiations with the government for better wages and the continuation of free schooling. I was told that professors earn between 60 and 150$ US a month. You can hardly survive in Cordoba on that type of salary.