Global Reach
An Interview with Mexican Library Association President Elsa Ramirez Leyva
Nancy Cunningham

As governments reach across borders to strengthen ties with neighboring countries, we see the beginning of long term cooperative ventures between businesses, community groups, and public institutions such as libraries. Texas Library Association has been in the forefront in developing structures for cooperation with Mexican libraries and librarians.

Years ago TLA recognized the importance of not only its relationship with other state and regional library associations but also with the national library association of Mexico, or AMBAC (Asociación Mexicana de Bibliotecarios, A.C.). In recognizing Texas’s kinship with Mexico on social, cultural, and geographical levels, TLA has developed and supported committee efforts to strengthen ties with the library community in this country.

To that end, TLA’s Texas-Mexico Relations Committee invited Elsa Ramírez Leyva, president of AMBAC, to TLA Annual Assembly to discuss long-term cooperative agreements, meet TLA members, and learn more about how TLA operates.

Texas Library Journal conducted an interview with Ms. Ramírez Leyva as well as Agustín Gutiérrez Chiñas, library science professor at the state university in San Luis Potosí, to determine their impressions of U.S. libraries, discuss some of the differences between libraries in both countries and the challenges that the face the Mexican library association.

During the interview Ms. Ramírez shared with TLJ a bit of the history of libraries in Mexico, characteristics of the public library system and the difference in attitudes toward libraries. She commented, "I find that in the United States, the public library is a strong institution; people love the library. Even people who are retired want to volunteer and work for libraries. In Mexico, we have to create more of this consciousness. [Mexican] society recognizes the importance of libraries, but not enough to ask the government for more support."

"In Mexico, public libraries are not very well supported by the government. We have had libraries from the 16th century, but even so, people are not used to looking to the library as a possible source of information.

"Public libraries only started in the last century as small libraries, called gabinetas de lectura, or reading rooms, but most of the collections were in English and French so they were only for the well-educated. In the 1920s, after the revolution, there was a group of intellectuals who worked for many things, including the public library. These were people who had been to the United States and had experienced public libraries. José Vasconcelos, Mexican philosopher and one-time Minister of Education, was one of these intellectuals who supported the idea of public libraries in Mexico."

One of the problems, according to Ms. Ramírez, is that Mexican public libraries have not experienced a consistent level of support over the years. We know that this is also a challenge for Texas public libraries.

It wasn’t until 1983, under President Miguel de la Madrid, that Mexico began to develop a strong public library support program. Ms. Ramírez noted that "through this project they opened almost 3,000 public libraries across the country. Currently Mexico has 5,000 public libraries."

Ms. Ramírez added that most of these libraries have children’s departments because "everyone knows that it is in childhood that one develops good reading habits." She reiterated that as libraries grow, people learn to depend on them and refuse to allow them to close, as happened in the small town of Tabasco where citizens protested the city’s intention to close the library.

In learning about Mexico, we must keep in mind that it is a land of great contrasts, much like the United States. While the public library system is not as strong as it could be, Mexico has some of the richest university library collections in all of Latin America.

Ms. Ramírez also discussed the role of the Mexico’s national library association: "AMBAC represents all librarians and institutions: university libraries, public libraries, a few school libraries, special libraries, and all kinds of librarians, professional and non-professional." AMBAC, like TLA, has an annual conference known in Spanish as "Las Jornadas" which next year will be in Veracruz. Ms. Ramírez extends a special invitation to all Texas librarians to attend their conference and visit this beautiful colonial city.

According to Ms. Ramírez, AMBAC has many challenges ahead. The first is increasing participation among Mexican librarians. "We would like our librarians to participate more with the association. This tradition [of associations] is not as strong as in other countries like the U.S."

The second greatest challenge to AMBAC is the recognition of the profession by the society. Mexican librarians, like many in the U.S., struggle to gain recognition by the government and the community as professionals. Ms. Ramírez added that it is critical that information publishers and librarians be united because in reality their goals are interdependent.

One of the things that most impressed Ms. Ramírez was the cooperation she witnessed at the TLA Annual Assembly. "This is one of the things that makes many of your projects successful." She added that "this is one of the things we must take back to Mexico."

Elsa Ramírez and Agustín Gutiérrez were both honored as guests of TLA at the Assembly luncheon. One event at the luncheon that proved difficult to translate was the annual check collection for the Texas Library Political Action Committee. Both Elsa and Agustín were surprised that, at the cajoling of the speaker, James Stewart of the Victoria Public Library, members reached into their pocketbooks, wrote checks, and held them in the air to be collected. That demanded a full explanation of how TLA gets support and how the money is actually used.

Ms. Ramírez commented that TLA members "give to this committee because in the end this investment will come back them." She added that "our government is more paternalistic. We are used to thinking the government has to give to us and we do not have give [to them]. Even with taxes, the people of the U.S. will say, ‘I pay taxes, I have the right to ask for something.’ In Mexico, it is more like ‘the government is doing us a favor; maybe they will give me water or electricity’ instead of demanding it because it is their right. This attitude however, especially since the recent turnover in leadership in Mexico City, is changing.

Mr. Gutiérrez said that what most impressed him about libraries in the United States is that citizens here recognize the importance of the institution to their lives. "People here are convinced about the role of information and when I come here I am always surprised at their support for libraries—all kinds of libraries."

The visit by Elsa and Agustín was a great success. At the Texas-Mexico Relations meeting, Ms. Ramírez presented many ideas for long-term cooperative ventures with Mexican librarians through AMBAC. Many motions were made and passed at the meeting, including one to present a program featuring Mexican librarians at TLA annual conference in San Antonio.

The Mexican Library Association will be sending five of its best library students from each of Mexico’s five library schools to the annual conference next year. The TMR committee will also be planning a librarian excursion to the International Book Fair in Monterrey, Mexico, from October 11 to 14. This librarian field trip to Mexico will leave from San Antonio and McAllen (see article below).

As we begin to plan for next year’s conference, the theme, "Local Touch, Global Reach," takes on a special significance with regard to the bridges we are building with our colleagues in Mexico. Local touch begins at home, with the way we treat our patrons and meet their information needs. Global reach brings home the importance of our connection with Mexico and our understanding of Mexican culture. In a land that is known for its fusion of cultures, we strive to reach out not only to our Hispanic patrons but to all those we serve through our transnational connections. TLA is building those bridges.

Upcoming Projects of the Texas-Mexico Committee

The Texas-Mexico Relations Committee is committed to building bridges of communication with Mexican libraries and librarians. To that end, the committee has been managing a grant for the exchange of librarians between Texas and Mexico as well as organizing other activities. These are some of the events TMR will be coordinating: