·' "
; anything but a crit. It whkh 'sat)sfi;ed Illt ce at P i incelon."yas den·
t of g~owtb~ro')Vth 1n
fust~rate ·library!s, pJol,. e; grow;th in'perc~'plioUI
a closely' knif aaa:demit
! itS·probleffis"of;instru • arch' .anel; fii{ally, .growtb friendshipsjnil acq'u"aint e and family' re'iP6n~bil r elements,o!~!I;V8li~ intO )ok back·ori theseyearsa a sincere affection .for II with a recognition of .aU
.'
·n' ..
MWRENCE S, THOiin>SON ·AND JORGE RIVE11:A RID£:
be,giDl)jn~sof hDt~ri,es~i~·P.ue~o l~tfio)i·san~ .th~~t~i~es 01 ' ~ ~iscQ
RI~ .go J;,aclo fjU .I,nW' Spap lsh m.lonial times; but.circuri)stances liave notJ~"9red a .:p.rrti?U~.g ,~f<lditipn 01. boo~s .arid readeis:, on tliiS'h,l'1'icane S!"epr~a. ~!'gl'ected ~or fou ;;c~nturi~s by th~ .Spamards, Numerous,pnvate..and pubTI.'..,·c . ~o.l1e(#lin~. of consid~'ra,ble hn " ' port;l';)ce haye , b~)Qst or':damaged io,' ~Iorms · and earthquakes, .and ·the almost perpetual economic distres< "..;:' "~cr1 rather tQlf.:;"orable .to cultui':U ,:,. "o<op. ment of a,ny.'OOrt, .
-
of ~nJuan ..'J
":
'
.•
.
," Y.,Siempr~: dulce~tiJ ',me'rhQria sea, .G~rbs6 pIeladQ; .· . . ~ I.. P6<:tlsimo 'Sornardo de Valbtle~•. ' 'Tc.nias tu oi cayado De Puerto 'Rico cuando el fiero Enrique, olan,des reh.lado,
, ROb6 tU librcna. j'"
A:s eady...as"I523 the··:flrst library was Pero tu ipgenio '!~ qu'e.no pod!>,
organiZed.· ip.. the :t.onvento· de Santo -, .:i\unque las fuerzas del ~Ivid.o aplique, Pomingo (a.t the .e ntrance,., to Fort: Que .bien cantaste al espaftol Bernardo!. Brooke'" o~.~EI M'o'no,'-' San.Jua.n); but . . Quebiw~l".siglo·~ Or.1 it ~'<!estro)led by .t he Dutcli ~ 1'02$.' 'nl fuist~;~Ii.p~~laijo y su tesoro, It lias·"f,ur!h..r ' been '.intimated",that-- 'a ' y; tesorp:!j,n ric'!5. e,lI'f,u;r~o Rico, _Qi:le ·-nUD~'Bue.rt()' ~co f~ tan rico.• mu¥c Fbia,ry.:o( 'i«IIl.e propoi'ti9ns eiis,ted · in the, Cathedral: of SiI),}ul\o Jlricir tp Mt~"the diSastrous"attack oS' the Dutch 1598, "'1!.~Wr(H.eolge ClilIprd, Ea:f/9.f the FranciScap.S' otg~niUd 'a library in Cumbii!!fud,;'caiiitd.away th;e1>$:;tnaod about 't6$0/1)1It the~ 11,oiiks disapp~ , . bells . o t 't1i.e cahi!e4rill after"l?otin$ th,e when the tOi:mi;llirii·t)o, was dissolved in. citY, It i$ defu,1ite1y;~own that a mu~ic. . i835 :i TIiefe are ';oilefinitere'cords of Iib~ry wf,ls r.~lill51ed in 166p when I!fli:¥!fei\l\br:}iies ~ ;eignteenth-ciilltury the ,church :created the p6sit:i9P' of ' or . P'!~t.to." .~~:orbut $i~ .i~ is.,)<nown th.at gau.ist and' choirlea<jer.ior the Cathedral, ~ ,:p'lmll)w.a)1~7 ~:,W'iM1J1,S:'$e FIaIlC)s, '<.
',',
p.ate.EspeCially .[~grettabJ¢ . was tAe (1.... stwcr;on of the"iib,i ;\i/ otBiShQ~:Be~.. miid9 de V:41.b),leIia( is6S;;r(i27)~~iil~op or Puertl'~d,Uto, ,fr0Jn ' !620 until. , h~ dea1'4.',';L9pe, ~1~lir~t~d tlii.s :.fay,jou.~ Colc . ·kctlon'·jI) verse: ..... .
•
•
'T.om4s
.
·BlanCo,.,P,~O,nluarjp,~'!IAJ~ M.
Puerw
The.Dutch inv,asion,of 162 5 destroy.ed ·R;"', ·'d'ed. (San Juan: Bib~Ot"ca d~ auto.... puer not ,only .the library of ithe Eonyento de .torriquefios, ' ,943), 'PP· · 32:-33 , ~~'5.a;lvedra and Santo Do.miJigo but also.. oihertbook col-.. JuliO Fiol Negron; His"'';'" II< 'P.l<rlo'. 11;'" (San ..
I
]uan•. I,944),-P· 22;.Pedreiri;J~.cil:
'.
Writers"
• Laurel de
A~,
'
)
,....
SiJv.a ,n.
S' PedrWa-, 1«. ",; 6 Writers'
....
work is ~ com ·1 -',. . ats?mpan)r1a pros -bears tl:!.e:·tiije of EJ
.P.rogram, .0J. di.l,. p. rn.
1Luis O'Neill de "M~n, HB'iJ:iliotecas p6bli~s ~e···..·P.ucrto Riro./" -':in .E'ugfni,Q fFef!llJ'ldez Ga.ma and Eugenio Adol, (ods:), I!:J libio'de J(;'" (San 'Jui1n': 'E l :tibio azul ,Pub1i~ Qo" 1\>23),
p.,.,,,,
p ~ 451:,:
.
THE LIBRARY QUARTERLY
cans were teaclting courses in theology, law, and Latin, it is most probable that this instruction was supported by li braries of SQme sort. Far more significant the
:-CeO ttl ry.
il)liDteCa
1843 was mov ing toward the foundation of a library. In this year the cleric ilJr_ n 0
F
t
a
• Ibid. 9 "Ten t.a.tiva del Prebendado Dr . D . Rufo Manu el Ferniodez. de fundar eo la capital una biblioteca ptiblica," BoleUn kistOrico de Puerlo Rit;o, X (19 23), 62. 10 I (1863), 1Q-:24- There is a copy of this ex tremely rare periodical in the private library of Pro fessor Rafael W. Ramirez de Arellano of Rio Piedras. Professor Ramirez is Asenjc's grandson.
II
Writers' Program, opfltit., p.
12:2.
n Emilio del Toro Cuevas, "InRuencia de \:1 biblioteca p6blica. modema en 1a familia y en 1:, cultura social," Confa-encias dominicdes dGdes fII la. BibJiqUw Inswar de Puerto Rico, I (19(3), 51, Manuel Fernandez Juncos, "BibUot.ecas publicas III Puerto Rico," ConjerfJtl,l;Ws dominuaks dadas en /" Bibliotua lnmlar de Puerto Rico, I ( 1913), 122, and "Bibliotecas antillanas: Puerto Rico/' Revlsta. de / 1/ ,1 A ntiUas: M a.gazine hispana-americana, I (M;l), . 1913), 39. (The two articles by Fernandez Junc"! are almost identicaL) The Writers' Program is ill error when it states (op. cit., p. 123) that the M.'ly.1 gtiez Municipal Library was founded in I87S·
THE LIBRARIES Oil,
be nineteenth cent urY.. ~up waid he Biblioteca e:yagiiez, founded ~ r 13; , '873., the ConseJO t city ordered the in 1j~.iln\l.· $JianiSh'ipesetaS I on·January 'l 'i, 1814, i1Jg1l'leI*<l' oj ' 3,250
:h 1$, '1.8.74 , ~'is
sen1~se"lb~;~:;~~=~~! JJ
fust
.
Fem'luidez JI1I!.c6~, for arian of ·t,I!.e C~r,negie ,an and ,an outst 3il'ding used. to tell a · rather of the ,beginnings of ilunicipal of San J uan. n, tMs collection dates a group of friends meet· lence of Don ' Manuel !r of the Ateneo Puerto· o Cuevas, "InO~enci&. de la adema ' e:n laofamilia y 'en .. ·er~~ dgntilticpks JaM.s PI tk P~t6: RicD, t (1913), S2~ roco>, ':BjbliotecaA p6blicu cIr mcias dominiC4lu dGdiJ,$ eM ' PiW'O Jato, '! (J91!5), JUt and ;S: Puerto Rico," RIrtisUJ dt 1M 'ms.IPrUrtlmetUarw, 1 (Ma,t. 'article. by Femindez · Ju""," j:Tbe Writers' Program ;. i~ ')p. ~iJ .• p. Y·~3) that the'lttllya.· My was f~ded. in 1875·
, even
t ougn it opened its doors only in I~.
'!1 'F;~~~ d~ ~.
IUrpOseS.
RICO
niquetiil, expressed a good ~eaJ of con· pal libraries of .Ponce and MayagUez, the cern over tbelilck: of a popular library to Bibliotcca Municipal of San Juan was a supplem«:nt the education81 activities of circulating library wben ' it was fi rst th!, Ateneo. ' . founded, but today the situation is re , and others con . ut-versed. San Juan'l~ndsno books whereas ~ ": e manner.to p r<)lllote the foun~,- ",Ponce and Ma~ do. ' mg. of the new library. .. In one
y ·inFi\;eito RicO was j states .. that the fus(
10Uo, Ruiz, an old,.resl· !, 's ays that ooe Alfredo iodian of the collectioD <te in the lib"i'l'Y or "t.l>e ,n at present;ca;n "Supply :0' darify this poin t. At library prospered and ,iumes in 18 74 to 3,860 )eT 12.,<J:918,. the deva.+ e . which r.ocl¢dM;aya: :sti o},cid , tlie coi)ec'Bon. ;etion '<)fa{e Bfbii6LeQ said,to be'~, new i ib,rary
puERTo
wi
some ve hundred v UrrieS. Ii. si{inificant commentarY oh',the"bilck
wardlless of librarks du'rffig tlieSpa"l1ish regimei'iti Puelt6 Ri<;dJifay be:;Jollnd in lIui ' early' history of the, .San 'juan ' Bi bliote~ Municipal. 'An:0~g , t.n.lI-b.-i,*~ bought WIth Don Venanclo s m~n~y was a complete,set.of JoveIJa.t;'~s. When a list of the libl';lJ'Y's h6Iding.~ wils,p~b~hed in the 10ca.:l·,Iir-Qs, a cl~rlcal penQcilcitJ at- , tempteH, to i'h~¥e :tl:te ,.set of ]ovcJl!lJ1os purged from the library. FQrtunately the at1!:mpt was unsuccessfuL" Again, . the Ayuntamiento oj S.an. Juan, alaIltled by the contents of 's eme 'o!' the books ' given to the municipal li~ra:ry, initiated a sort Gf whicli, ac cording to coi;lteropor'alY 'opinion, lacked the proper attributes 'fqrcarrying out its deli""'" task.'" . At 'all events,
and other contemporary literary figu.res." In t890 this gabiMk WlIi com b1n~ wi~_¥if~ from ' Biblio eca ship ' .o,~·~;~l!iIf&:;iiiiii;;£liii;;t had access to figures showing that the 1l~blioteca Municipal of Ponce started 'WIth lk>9 books and 669 pamphlets; and ,,",cordi!!g . to P el Toro had' '
~
O!l;t~r ,m unicipal librar,ies have ~n foun.ded .from time. to .time in various \to,owns of Fuerto Rioo.Most of them were just on the borderline of beiQg gabineles <k /ecllur:a,. '
, but a recent visit to
t
at town revealed th'at the b~ilding has" .
been demoliShed, and not eyen a picture of it is available tOday. When Arthur E. 'G ropp s~rvey'oo',.t1te libraries of Puerto Rico in.' , ~o, lie reportedlUmors of a niunicip.~l libr1\ry in 'S.jlll GermAn, but
~;rni:1in a . ' . raco~teur ,a nd re, his PUrsUIt gift material as he WaS scornful of conventional library~ ' ~~~ '~~k!1!" methods. Beginning vii th some four ":-
DeW fa"tiIIo
hundred volumesin880 I ac "Del 1'oro Cueva5,o pp. r;il" p. S'j O'Ne'ill 'de cording to Pedrerra." Unlike the rnuriici· MilAn, .,. ';1., p, -tSJ. ' " •I, FemAnnu' .J1pl~ "Bl66pieias .pGblicas de Fern4.ndez J.tfntos, ~IBib1iotec:a51 p6bHca.S ~t Puerto Rico,'· p.' 1311 and uiiibliotecas uullanas: PUerto Rico;!' pp'l 'i 14-3S. :t4. "G. Nin, super:vising
ot
Q
puerto Rico," p. 37: 'fPedreira., 4>,: c;it.i P..;42.
principal .of public schooll i..ti: the Yauco Dutrict ~ tlie mOVing spirit behind thi~ pto;~ .
. wilS saja t.o<have
228
THE LIBRARY QUARTERLY
this allegation could not be substantiated after exhaustive inquiries in that ancient city.'" Ca ey, Fajardo, Guayama, and other towns are said to have had munici pal libraries at one time or another, but if they did, they have ..urered the same fate as the one at Yauco, A few collec tions along the lines of the old-fashioned Sunday-school library in the United States, and never containing more than a couple of hundred tracts and religiously inspired novels, have been established by the energetic Redemptorist Fathers, a North American order active in Puerto Rico. Puerto Rico is not the most fertile ground for the municipal public library of the North American ~pe. Above all else there is the overwh;,linmg-problem of' -=:i:llitenq. Ismael Rodriguez Bou, seere lary of the Consejo Superior de En sefianza in Rio Piedras, cites figures to show that Puerto Rico's illiteracy is but
Nevertheless, the latter group ",as car ried as literate by the various boards, A truer tale of Puerto Rican literacy and reading habits was revealed by Charles C. Rogier in his study of Puerto Rico's Middletown, Comeno." When Rogier made his study he found that only seventy-eight copies of El Mundo, leading Puerto Rican daily newspaper, were sold in Comeno daily, although the poputation of this typical hill town was ,6,715 in '930, There are no local publi cations. Except for two priests and a few school teachers in the town, nobody reads much. Private libraries are re~ stricted to a few dusty collections of fourth-rate subscription books in the back rooms of upper middle-class homes. The late Antonio S. Pedreira, perhaps the most penetrating analyst of puerto Rican culture who has ever studied the island's history critically, stated frankly; Rarfsimos son los municipios que en--:5US
31.5 per cent, putting Puerto Rico be hind only Chile Uruguay and Argentina among the L~tin Am~rican 'urisdic . B fl " J •I d
presupuestos demue!;tran arnOr al libro. Es, ademas muy cuesta arriba hacerles comprender que una biblioteca municipal es tan importantc J
como una plaza de mercado a un rnatadero. lI hons.19 ut onna statIstICS are miS ea - V .. .. ing. For example, it was found in an in When Gropp mvesllgated, the mumel formal private survey that out of a pal hbranes of Puerto R,co Just pnor to group of 162 selective service registrants the war: he fo~nd a, total of .2: 527 only 5 r were listed as illiterate . Actually, volu~esm P~nce s Blbhoteca Mumclpal, it was found that 63 others had signed ,,?d It was estlm,ated that th~rewere some their registration cards after a fashion, nme ,t~ousand III San Juan .' Blbhoteca claimed two or three years of school, but Mumclpai. Nel,ther at that tIme nor sub otherwise were unable to write and able sequentiy has It been posSlble to deter to read only the most elementary signs. mine the numerical statistics of Maya gliez' holdings. Thus, with the exception of the Carnegie Library in San Juan , he I~ Arthur E . Gropp, GuitU to Libraries and Archives in CenJr& Arne-ricil Ilnd the West Indies, could report less than twenty thousand Panama, Bermuda, and B,.itish G~,ianll ("MiddJ~ books available to the two million peopk American Research Series," No. 10) (New Orleans: of Puerto Rico; and these small collec MiddJe American Research Institute, Tulane Uni versity of Louisiana, 1941), pp.
61~36.
El AnoJjobelismo en Puerto Rico (Rio Piedras: University of Puerto Rico, Consejo Superior de Enseiianza, 1945), p. 53· A large proportion of Puerto Rico's illiterates are undoubtedly adults, but tlIe exact figure is not available. 19
lQ Comerlo: A Study oj a Pue.rlo Rican TO-dill ("Social Science Series") (Lawrence: University of Kansas, 1940), p. 177. u I nsulorismo: Ensoyos de inlerprt'ttUi6/J pu.t'f tOffig'Uefio, 2d ed. (San Juan : Biblioteea de au torr" pllertorriqueiios, 1942), p. 109 .
"
, l"tter group was ~ ' tP.e various ~!,>ards, , ; .P uerto Ri£l!.Ill~telacy bits was reveal~ ~y r in.his study of Puerto wn, Comer:lo~:lO~ :wilierr : study he found that itC!'>Pies of EhMuniJo,. ~icandaily newspaper, edo daily, although the s typical hill town was :hereare no local pu~li lr two priests'and a fe,y in the town,nQ~(),dy l,<:ate.li~raries,\re
,re
:dusty collection'S of cription books: in tile per'D)iddie'dass homeS; lio S. Pedreira, perhaps .ting analyst of J'uerto to has ever studied the riticaJly, stated frankly: r{;
os - IDl,lIp¢ipios ~ tiue-:en, s,!lS estran: amOl'-;' ,til: -'Hbto. EsJ arriba>l~~<xles cQmpre.ndtt uUnlcipal-es timimportan.ie oercado 0 un matadero,-Z; ,
nvestigated the murilcl, uerto Rico justpri!'>r. to und a total. of "1'52.7_ 's Biblioteca Municipli!, ted that there'were w,ine . San Juan's Biblioteca er at that time nOr s.rJ).: been possible to detei~ cal statistics 01 Maya hus, with the exCeption Library in Sanluap., he than twentythollsan", o the two millionpeoJl!e and 't hese .small·collec,
!dy. of
a"Pmrw -Rkan , Pbwn
~es_") (Lawr~nce: U nlversitj
77· ~,ayos
de inkrjtreJait4n .~ Juan: Biblioteia de\autor-es. :}, p. log_ J)
.
donS ;y~reconcentrated" in "metropoll- ' . The Carnegie'-JiitDrary of San Juan . ~') :cent;e~ containing 'barely- ~!? per sVpp lements tAe .f4th~ r feeb le work .of ren tqft~,e pG,Plllation'. , . ' .• . fJlemUldc;ip,,! Library tb soll).~ d~gtee, but .Appareq~y. $i. Bibllateca Municipal its p05~tion is' somewhaldifferent owing ijf San J1,lan. has hl\i-un,i<; consiP,<;raJ>ly . t.o :j* ~ist"riGaJ back.gt:<lUpd, and its ip since GioPP :ma(\e );iis .suFYe.y, As .1>f the' teJid<:li:fllnctions"Jiis Sl'ppoSed to be the summer of rg4$ it ·w.as reported. to ·con- insularl.ibrary,.$dit·wasknown as-such tail! 5,66r vo\]JJjres, .mostly of historical, .until, July 27, ~9J6:, when: the n~w . religious, and~ter'\IY(c~ntent:;Ve!yfew Carnegie building waS' openea, Ii .has bave a: recentimpril1t dltte,and there isdevelbpeda parcel-pust delivery serVIce, litQe up,to{dateref~rel1Ge materiakThe trttvelinglibraries ,(o)i', . iatber, · d~posifS. booli.s;are<ndtclassilied, 'a:n.d the catalog. su)JjeCt tb transIer), i!ild .a few ot her 'a t locates·the. bo(}~s.:bYIDean's ofa slieH tributes ot a s.tateilibt~!Y." '&il iehlity, mirk.,I11' 1945-4Qt '~I6j680 wasap·however~ theuniversityllbraiy ' atRia " priipriatedJ9r , th~: l.ibrary; . but only. . Fi~dra.~:ili.ifarJjetter.quii~~d.i1> serre ~' $3,oo6·''''l'as, fnr the .purchase of books•. as. a.. state(ornatl\>I1<J,IJ ,ribrary; and AJlP9intment~ ·t(j the library . staff are there .IS no r~aw,n:wbY" frcolllil not gen~rally:al)egedtobe madeon.the.basis· \Ie operated:, iii· the .~ . ri:!aIfiier as o/ politicalafliliations, a!id tbere are no theOsl" or Helsingfors university li employees with any technical -Iihrary hrarie,§, serving'both the ac;.demic com training. There are' two branches,ondii munity andJhe islan:d ·a5. iL wnole. Plierta de Tiert:! (~ho.nt 81 milea:way) . The. C~rn~e'ti~rary's togti!io ;j,,,,ck. ana one in Santurce .(about twomUes to r899,:the year after-:the .QCcupaUpn -oi awayv ; . . . the islap.d :by ,the lJhiteE! ' States, wh en t oday the B>iqlio'teca. MunIcipal:of th'ec.ollections- oi ·:the·.&:>Ciedad Ecori6 P once iSiOfficia'lly'known as·the ;Biblio mka.de:AmigosdeIRals,-the old sPinfsh [eca P6.blicil. It is main tamed' iit)der the Mrmitlan'd (pro!e~ionat: scbools,the joint:auspieesof thed..ions Cluh and th.e iotnierJ Int¢rvenciph ,.de Hacierida''Y ia l'Qflceseeuori::",ftbe Asociaci6n BiDli-·. Tes6F¢t).'f.> ~e . Diputaci6h PiOYinclal; otecariadePuertoRic6 (a ki~d ofa and ( ~,}n:stitilt{)Civil de Se~uiilla "friends of 'me' lj:braiy'" orglin1zation .E~s~fiM.zaJclOSed ;~; thereafter) were rather than i true\professional associa put to~e~eras theijlsularlibrary ,~t was tion) .Hsreyenl.i¢satederived fr_omthe' firsf'kW.>~ lis the 'Bib lioteca PUblica Lions, t~e,inSular 'goverrnnent(wllich .Pliert()rri.qpefi;li ;,or the.-SaIi: Jl1anFree contrihlltep. ~)~84 in r94s), anil,fees Lihrary, ",ndit ~/LSitl ~e cQ,;t~ydf'the levier: onrelJ,¥r~E$r,3?r secure~ from lelJ,rnedantiqu')Iillp R 'udolpn .Adalns this SQUi~jnI94i}. The coll.~Ctionis vluI':M~Qdclay.6k , Iii Nfarch" '9"a, this said to .amollnt 'to 9,648 y,olll1I1eS of a . ins(itution, w.as iorm.,!!:y, co,!.t!tu~d as. general character" and the books are .the BibliQtecalnsulanie Puerto Rico by completely cataloged .anddassmoo by . an act of the insular legislatnte; a.'board the Dewey ·declml!J system. In the sum_ of truste~ {junta de .sfudicost .'w as;qeat mer of 1945 a. limi.wn system of h()me ed ; the library was-made a depository ior loan ,:Be.cured b·y depo.sits was: inaugu insular,gIlvernment: p)1blicatiOIiS; and a rated. Both in P once and in SanJuan the patt of the library \Va;; ·designated. as a·-· majOl'.ityOftb.e ..readers ;are schOO'l chi!. drcu1a.ting.COUectiQn.'Dhe budg«;.t was dren. . . 2a·'Wn.tet:s,.·-ptO~i,oi..cit;, p. 2I $ .
23°
THE LIBRARY QUARTERLY
increased, and the library prospered un der the administration of Don Manuel Fernandez Juncos, the vigorous interest of the great historian Dr. Cayetano Coil y Toste (editor of the Boletin historico de Puerto Rico), and the philanthropy of North American residents who knew and admired the public library then coming into its own in the United States. By '9'3 the collection numbered twenty-five thousand volumes together with valuable archives relating to Puerto Rican history. By 1923 there were thirty thousand books in the library, but it is significant that even then not all the rooms in the spacious new building were devoted to the use of the library." By the late 1930'S the collection exceeded the fifty thousand mark, and the circulation amounted to some eighty-five thousand volumes annually." Today there are some sixty· six thousand volumes in the library, but the annual report (unpub lished except in sketchy excerpts in the annual report of the governor of Puerto Rico) for '944-45 recorded a circulation of only 38,265 issues exclusive of the circulation of traveling libraries and the parcel-post service. Annual acquisitions were slightly under two thousand, of which about a fourth was gift material. Over two hundred popular periodicals are currently received, of which 129 are in English, 78 in Spanish, 3 in French, and 2 in Portuguese. Fifteen daily papers from the United States, Mexico, Cuba, the Dominican Republic, Venezuela, Uruguay, and Argentina are available to readers. The traveling library program is limited by funds and equipment. Intend ed to stimulate group reading, it had 2,530 volumes in circulation in thirty different places in '944-45. The parcel post service, intended for individuals
I.
'1
O'Neill de Milin, op. cit., p. 4SI. Writers' Program, op. cit., p. 215 .
rather than groups, calculated its serv ices in '944-45 in terms of 121 parce], holding a total of 392 books. Of course, ill the case of both of these extramural services almost all the books circulaterl are in Spanish. Another general collection of a semi public character is the library of the Ateneo Puertorriqueno next door to thl' Carnegie Library in San Juan. The Ateneo, an institution for the promotion of popular culture by such activities as lectures and art exhibits, has a library of some two thousand uncataloged books, about six hundred of which are Puerto Rican items. The collection is in tended to be a library of general literature with a few basic reference works. I t receive~ some fifty popular magazines from all parts of North and South America, but only a few are bound. A full-time li brarian is in charge, but he is handi capped by extremely limited funds. The University of Puerto Rico Li brary at Rio Piedras, a half hour's drive through a continuous urban area from the center of San Juan, is by far the out standing collection on the island, but it suffers from many handicaps, principally youth. This library cannot be said to have existed prior to 1924, inasmuch as between that date and the university's founding in 1903 the library was merely a neglected, uncataloged, amorphous collection which would have shamed a nineteenth-century American denomina· tional college. -During the twenty years prior to '943, during which Mr. Dubois Mitchell was librarian, the collection grew from this embryonic state to that of a fairly good college library which gave reasonably adequate support to under graduate instruction. Today it contains ninety-five thousand volumes, with ten to twenty thousand additional ·ur;cata loged items.
THE LIBRAR,;IES {)F llUERTO RI~(5
ps, ?lculated
it~
serv parcels 392 books. Of course, in I of these extramural U. the books ciiculated
o terms of
121
,I collection of a' semi. »~i the library ~f ' the lueild ·next .door til the ;.<in ''Sall lit.an. The ltion fdr the promotion ~. by such a'c tivitil's 'as (hjlji~, has a librlU'Y 'of !td llncUa1og,m .b.ex>ks, del. 'Yhieh .ale Puerto :o1Jection is,intendecHo p'eral I i terature with a Ire w.i llh. It '.rteee,ivl!S ' ~~lLzines (all ,d South America, but )ouod. A full-time li· llIe, but he is ha.odi ely:J.iDiited ful).9,s. . . of puert6 .iRiCb' I!.i ras, a:fticlf~\iQpr:' s ~diiye mus urh." " ~dfom [uan', is 'Qy ! aHihe out I on tbe i$land';"bu't 1~ handicaps, pr$cipa.\ly ry cannot be said to to 1924, inl1!iTlluclt. as , and the univer-sity's he library :;was m erely ataloged, amorphous vould have shamed a , American denomi!la. ring the twenty years ng which Mr. Dubois carlan, the collection >ryonic state to that of ge library which gave Ite support to u.n der· an . Todity it contains ad volumes, wi$ '{en ~d I'dditional ~ca·ta-
.r
from
23 1
The univemty Jibmry is not a Tesearch Puerto Rican.material was made in. 1932, library in any sense' of ' the word. Its wilen 'the university purchased the pri periodical collection is particularly w"!'k . vate library of Sr. Vicente Rodriguez (some three hundred and fiftY are . cur- · . Rivera of C&yllY, containing ,some six rently received, with ~tively fe~ com thol1S8.lld v elumes. In ~936 the univ..,r plete sets). ~d the l~rar document eol ~tybougbt the: erceptiona:1ly handsome lectiOn is ra~er: disorgan~ '8.Ild in colJ~ction of P uerto Rican books which compl~e owiIjg to the lack: of persolUlelc" had! been·' btought together by M.t. trainei\, to h<J.nrlk dw;wn~ts ..Recenl an ' ,Ruber-i. L . ]unglianns 01 Bayam60. Mr. nual ll!;p,orts (typewrit~ .Q!lly) ~.ow .j:im,&hanns, a New Yorker, was graduat some ~a·t\;lel s)Ow , pTOgx~as m a cqull'lo,g /'ed hom' Cornell a:round the turn of the periodical sets, b'u't, atiilie present ~te, ,,<;¢ntury and went to PuertO Rico with many studen t generatiQlls will pass 'beo .JtIle·intention ollearnlng enough Spanish fore tPe u~iveJ?ity ~br.a:,?, has af'eri<><!i9 ',.~o pe'~it.hiln ~~ "9J..iQuct en.lQ.1Dolqgical cal collection .lI:dequate eYen f{)r the ' re lDVes.\lg~tlOns:. m South Amenca. How· quireiirents or unde\;g-:railuate ,Jemt pa aver, be became a permanent residen~ Qf ' pel'S. . . . . ' .' .' .the'isla!ld and <,IeY:9;~~ much time to col T~,J:Ollec(jblis" :Cannqt bedescr-iJiJed as ', leGtiilg:jiiSe'c~s~·'ro<iksi;bookS, and periodi s troniin.any field, not ev:en'in-Spanish Qr . c.als:'Hi~ lib:r~rY _consisted of more than Latin-American literature and . li~tory.·' Jive thousand bOoks, periodicals, pam However, the Puerto Rican Cdl!ectionis pblets, and other material r~ative to the quite remarkable; and i t'l"a-snot without, 'hi~tory of the island, and it was particu justitica'tjpntha! the Iibt,u'ian ,,,,~tediD: )ili'!:\' strong in local newspapers and 1Ill ~b:riD.3,! ' te~!?rf t?~h:e chiui);Wor in 'peri{>dica,ls; When. Redreira,' then bead of '943 ~t ." tlf~eho: ;R;caA c611etfi!)n the.miiversity's itistory department, died is the sOle r~n: we &~a.tp.,e preS¢nt in, .r939, his. collection of a:bout fifteen tim.e fbr gradu.1~W.ork" T~s ' coll~ctipn . hundred ' carefully selected tiUes dealing is barely nl;t~n y.ear:s oJlI, and it was not with 'P uerto Rican history also passed tQ opened ofJ'il#lly until 1940." Neverthe- : the lib~ary. The last important acquisi less, it.conWn~"lillnost twelye thousand, . tion of Puerto Rican material was made books, among which are :clrhrally all the in '945, when' the -imiversity pur.c hased important titles in the bihliogr,!-phy of the ll'dmirable private lihmry of the late P ueito Rico. It origin'llted .in W'9 wh,,!!' Don Eitrique Adsuar. Don Enrique had the u liiversity reCeiVed a small donation the meanS' to acquire whatever he want of firrty titles .of Puerto Rican literary eq, but he exerciscid great discrimination works. In the r\>llowin~ year. the _b~1i.s in the _titles he adn'ijtted to his shelves, which were later ttr fqrm the nucleus of including ~ch~ gems asAbbad y Lasie tlte PUllrto Rican l3.oIlection were sepa- .rra's H~ ,Keograflea, t;ivi/ y poWica tk rate,Hrom the reSt of tlu;·,library. " _ la i$/q tk.· S. Juan Bautista tk P_lo The :first' mrge-sdjle ·acquisition 01 RUo (:l\;1:adrjd, 1788) and the DiMilJ ..The b'brary o( the Institufo Ibero-Amerio:aoo li4er.al y ,u varidatks iJe Puerlo Rico reported by Gropp has be.... aboorhe!l by tbe uni· (I82'~22), the first daily Ilewspaper on yennty .h~. . ' the isliutd .. .. DatA on tile Puerto Rican COllection ha.., btt. The' Puerto Rican Collection of the (urnished by Sr. Gonzalo VelUquez, ......oate li- . ' • brari." at tbe university, ,.00 has devoted much uDlversity- contatns many other rare lime aDd _rgy't.<\ builaing it up. , .. titles duplicated in ftw other collections, .
-.
23 2
THE UllRARY QUARTERLY
Sucb items as an anthology known as the Aguinaldo Puerto-Riqueiio (San Juan, 1843)" and the long runs of the Gacela de Puerto R«o (from 1812 to '902, when it ceased publication) and the BoleUn mercanlil de Puerto Rico (1839-1918) offer the student of Puerto Rican history ample opportunity for research. At pres sent the collection is housed in a special room wbich, although beautifully ap pointed, is entirely too small for it. Plans have been made to give it considerably more space in the new library building wbich is being contemplated. During the war years the University of Puerto Rico, like the rest of the island, has enjoyed the most prosperous period in its history, thanks to the unprecedent ed revenues from rum taxes enjoyed by the insular government. That the library shared in this general prosperity is wit nessed by the fact that a count of its col lections in '939 revealed 56,670 volumes, increasing to 66,995 in ]94', 74,054 in '943, and 90,000 in 1944. Unfortunately, there is no reason to believe that the present prosperity will continue, and there have already been indications of a tendency to reduce appropriations for the university. The future financial posi tion of the university library might possi bly be improved somewhat if the library were given the functions and the pre rogatives of a state or national library, thus justifying additional appropriations over and above the amounts allotted to ~j Until recently supposed to be the first book (nol item) published in Puerto Rico. However, a few year~ ago, a litle by Fray Manuel Ma.rfa de SanLucar, Qmulernito tk VaNas espec.ies de cop/as muy derxJta.s ("Impreso en PuerlO Rico, ana de )8 12 . En go") , was discovered in a 1924 catalog issued by Victoria Vindel, a Madrid dealer. VindeJ was unable to remember to whom the book was !;Old , and no copy has been located thus far. If the 18r2 date is correct, the Capuchin missionary SanLucar will enjoy the honor of being the first person to write a oook published in Puerto Rico.
it by the university from its total ap propriation. The University of Puerto Rico Library will probably never develop outstanding research collections in any field, bUl every effort should be made to strength en the collections to a point where they will be adequate to support graduate work for a Master's degree in a few significant fields, such as Spanish philolo gy and Latin-American history. In the foreseeable future it will be better for Puerto Rican aspiran ts for the doctorate to do their advanced study in North America rather than for the university to attempt to provide graduate study programs at home. The developmen t of photographic facilities (at least micro film readers) and the proposed new building for the university library, if its construction is actually realized, would contribute substantially to increasing the effectiveness of library service in Rio Piedras. Special libraries in Puerto Rico have been rather weak until quite recently. Pedreira commented: "La falta de ar cbivos, bibliotecas y museos que orienten con aportaciones iniciales la tarea del investigador ba sido una barrera formi dable para ordenar y valorar nuestra inviolada produccion literaria.Jl18 The first special library was a legal collection in San Juan established by royal order on June '9, 183I. This library subsequently became tbe property of the Puerto Rican Bar Association (Colegio de Abo gados) and, after a brief sojourn during the '930's in the university's law library, came to rest stored in boxes in the capitol building in San Juan. No officials of tbe Colegio de Abogados are familiar with tbe specific contents of this library, but it is said to have suffered heavily from losses due to constant moving and ~
I11S11larisllw, p. 52.
1
233 tylrorn ,i ts total ' ap·
,.I Puerto Rico Library. r'develop outstanding IS in any field, -bU\ be made to strength· to a point where they to support gradual.f er's degree in a i~w lch as Spanish philo]o "iean history. In· the it will be beUer,·'ibr rants for ,the doct!>r~te mced study in NQr\l! Lall for the university ov-ide graduate stlrd~ ,. 'I'he developmen t 0.1 lities (at least micro d tbe proposed 1\0" niversi~y libraw, if iUl :tually realized; wo.uld ltially toincreasing tht . ibrary. ,service in .:Rio. s in Puerto Rico' b;lYC , until quite recently. ,ted: "La falta de IIr· ; Y IDuseos que oriept-en iniciales la tarea.. del .ido una barrera fonni· nar y valorar nJlestra :ci60 literaria.",a The y was a legal colleGtion lisbed by royal ordef'illl us library subseque1\tly· )perty of .the Plje.rto iation (Colegio de Abo· : a brief SOjOl.lID during university's law library, xl in bOlOes in the capitol [uan. No officials of .t h. .ados are familiar wi Ih ~nts of this library, but esuffered beavily from constant moving and
negligenb bor<()Wers of. a.npther.. genera, lion. The best legal library .of Pl.IertoRico is thl',.c6llection oNhe insUlanillpr~e aout-t. Its beginnings can be.trace.a ·bacJ< to ·'.l!)12 , and today it is "'!-ia to bold 'SQme twenty thousapd volumes;aJmosUotally unca!;tloged,'except :for SOme 'informal checking cards .on Ute various reporting oyst@IS. There ar.e fairly complete sets of neaBy all federal reports, a large number of state .rePorts, twelve complete law reo vie1l!~, ;ab';;\lt.£ve hundred textbooks, a1\a &OllIe ,.Spaitish . and · British works, but not!Wtg from other countries. An annual appropriation of $2,500 is available for the "purchase of reports and books. tbere is no trained librarian, but ..the Puerto Rican ins.u lar marshal devotes &Ol11e'.of rus·tUne to'.caring' for the collec tion. While it is prinIa~i1y for the Fefer .n~ use,of the supreme court justices, it is al.so ,open to local attorneys for consul· tation and borrowing. l'heJibrary of the attorney.general of Pl)etto Rico is sewnd in inIportance to that of the supreme. court among legal coUe.!:.tions of government agencies. It is only about .fifteen years old, but it is reasqnably complete in federal reports. It bas ~.few ·sta,te reports, a half,dozen law reviCW$ inNa.rious states of completeness, ""d: ',atxlut a.: thousand textbooks ·and mon!>grap~c works. Total holdings run to about·ten .thou5a!la·volumes, There is Irttle·Qlder·material,and virtually nothing from·:o.u tside ,the United States. The col lection' is fairly well :cataloged, ana it is available ·for C01\sultation by local ..at torn~ys.
In '944 and,1945 a vigorous campaign was ,conducted .at th.e university .to 'build up the law-schoollibrary .,Prlor to 1944 this· ,collection contained on.iy " some forty.five.hundred uncataloged volwnes, .administered· wi.t hextreme. .. in
. f6.nm<lity;. and ':was subject /only t,ollIe no!'Jlinal ,jl!risqiction of the .univei,ity librarilUl ~ la .order- for. tbeJ aw :scqoo! t(> be a~credited and in order -t.o prOVIde adequate facilities for stl.ldy, SOme'seven Ihousana volumes were added in '944 45, and Ute administrative conditi"ns were radically changed. Today the uni-. versity 's law ·library is well .cataloged, has a trained librarian in charge, and has an adequate buaget for thepu·rchase of curre1\t"reports and .law reviewS. It has ' nearly all federal reports, state reports from forty-four states, and a representa tive collection of ·tp:tbooks, including works by European authors. The few sets of law reviews are nearly all In comple.te, bu t efforts are being made to fill· them .ou t. At ,present it is being advo~,ted :tliat the libraries of the aHomey-general. ana tbe sl!Preme court be,combme.d:in one, to be housed in a proposed new P".\acio de Justicia to be constructed in Munoz Rivera Park in San Jua\1. Some local at torneys bave even .suggested .t hat the Univer,s ity of Puerto Rico Law School be housed in this new legal center 'and that its library be incorporated with the other two. Tliis pr9p0sal relative to the uni v.ersitY's library was made prior to the rejuvenation of tbe law libr'lf}' at Rio Piedras, .and today it might pe more de' sirab!e to keep this collection separate, unless the law school itself is moved to the Palacio de Justicia. The combination of the supreme court library and the attorney_genera!'s library woUld not o1\ly pe an economical move bilt would also. create a much stronger ,collection than .either of the two component parts. Both are largely used at present by the same readers, members of the San Juan bar; and witb the attorney-general and tbe supreme court under O1\e roof, neither agency would suffer frow losing
234
THE LIBRARY QUARTERLY
its p rivate library. It would be especially desirable from the standpoint of the supreme court's collection , since it would surely receive better care tban is bein g given it a t present. Another library nominally connected with the University of Puerto Rico is the irnportan t collection of tbe School of Tropical M ed icine in San J uan, spon sored jointly by Columbia University and the University of Puerto Rico as a research institu te for investigation of tropical diseases and public bealth p rob lems." It is the ollly medical library of any consequence in the whole Caribbean area and p robably the best one between New Orleans and Rio de Janeiro. Its be ginnings may be traced to the old Insti tu to de Medicina Tropical, which was founded in 1905. When the Scbool of Tropical Medicine was created in 1925, it took over . the ratber small library of the old Instituto. It is now well cata loged, and in recent years it has received fairly adequate financial suppor t. Almost four hundred current journals in t he various fields of medicine, chemistry, and biology are received. Complete sets of most of the more important American and British medical journals are avail able, bu t there are very few European periodicals. Total holdings amount to 3,885 monographic works and 6,742 volumes of periodicals. There are few academy or society publications. Some veterinary publications are included in the collection, but more valuable ma terial in t his field is available in tbe li brary of t he Agricu ltural Experiment Station of the University of Puerto Rico near Rio Piedras. T he library of the School of Tropical Medicine is open to " A short des<:ription of this li.brary appears in
Columbia University, A nnolJncemenl of 'he School of Tropialt Medicine of the Uni11erS'ity of Rico, Tu.oentitlh Session, 1945-,,6, p. 12.
p,~ ·to
the use of local physicians who obtain special permission from the director of the school. In recen t years there has been a good deal of discussion of the possibility of founding a medical school in Puerto Rico . The majority of medical opinion i, against the project inasmuch as it is can· sidered more economical to Manco medical education of Puerto Ricans in North American universities. Un fortu· nately, the issue has become a political one, and in the course of the discussions tha t have taken place little thought ha, been given to the difficulty of building up adequate lib rary, laboratory, and hospital facilities in centers far removed from San J uan. F rom the standpoint of secu ring adequate library service, i1 would seem to be most desirable to 10' cate such a school close to tb e Scbool of T ropical Medicine, bu t some have ad· vacated that it be located far to the sou th in Ponce. A second medical collection in San J uan is the library of tbe Department of Public Health. In 1940 Gropp estimated tbat it had [,800 to 2,000 volumes and 156 periodical titles. At present this col · lection is boxed up and completely un · available, and the librarian was unabk to describe it adequately on account or the short period during wbich he has held offi ce. T bere are four agricultural libraries in Puerto Rico, and their administrative re· lation s are most confusing. In the firsl place, it sbou ld be noted that t he Uni· versity of Puerto Rico, like the State System of Higher Education in Oregon or the Greater University of NorU, Carolina, consists of two parts. Th t." humanistic faculties and p rofession" I schools are in Rio Piedras, but the uni · versity's College of Agriculture alld Mecbanic Arts is in MayagiiC2, a hUll '
,]laB LlBRAJtil;:S O.E p·'.''6:Eicro RICQ
.,
Jj"y$i¢ii'~S who ,Qbtain 1 , 'f rom
:tJi,e direct\)I of
• j
, tfuere ha.·sfuei!!i '<I:,good 1' of the ':pGssiBility of ieal s€heo1 ', in P,uerlo Iy of medical opinion iJ
:t inasmuch 'as 'it 'Se ton conomicai' .to finan a< n 'o f Puerto 'Ricans In universities, Unforlu, has become ..a politicoJ ourse of the !,l'iS<lUsslOl\_ plac.Hittle thought hal le,diffi:tnlty, of 'bliildin, )l'3J'Y.,: laborat0ly, and ,.in ,'cerlters'·faf 't<:ll'iovctl From the ·standpoiht QI ~te library service, II )e most desirable ,t o 10 ol ,close to ,the School ot ne, · but"'some hav'; ad be" )ocateG far-.to tht :dieal colle~6n ; in' San Pj of. the Departm~t ot ;n 1940.Gropp;estimattd >0 to 2,0C>0 volumes ~ancl iUes, At,preseilU.l;W\ col. l . up and completely un· the hbrarian' was uD,~14l dequately on aCJ:.Ou~t of during whiCh be haslleld or agriQUltural ~ibtaries in :d their administrative re, ;t 'ConiU:~ing, In the Dnt I be noted that ,theUnl· rto RicQ, like the .Sta\.e lier Ed~Cati@nin ·QrflgOll !T UnlYl'TsiJY '< <;>f. .J,!orth asts of 'two ,P'trts: ,ThJ cu)tiesand' pl'Qfes~onal Rio Pjedras, bllt 1:be: unl' ~ge, of Agriculture and , .is"·in Mayagilez/ :a hun
.'
'
",
,,'
'".
2 35
'
~es (!dUr 'b~urs by ,6i}) to the tt ,cPntained valuan-Ie ~t~. 'of periodicals west" Neverth,eless,',1lhe Ji),so.lar govern" aI).1;(ptper .o;erials in~grieu'ltu're, a.ndOJoelat. ment ~Wortce.d) ,AgJ'ieuitllra;1 Expetii• . ea Delds. A: recent :<:oIinF sho:.vl;' .t hat,the· mfllt.StaQpI), n0minauy,:,a:t.~cli<4 to .the library ' P'olds 4;G~i :M~ilil , vMumes: College". o{ ., ~riqJ\tute 'a nd'- .Mechanic' alx)\;~,~,oc>o ,unbOUna.'y'pJfu:nes,\~d, Some . Arts cis"Iogl,tj;<:j;,..ll;!. .'1lio; Pie!iicas; ontJ>e 78;m pronplilets,' In :addition;to;illarge . other side ' oLto"1D .from· the,.,unjveI'Sity: nnmpcer. 'of. periodica:Js r.e ceivea,, !>y ,6;, The J"ederal' 4,griculturaJ ExperimeI\.t change, the libra.I)" :purcli(lseg, ~I'~0 '!;P', Statipn is,in .~aya,gliez, . !;Jut,tJ>e--Federal entific jouIDl"ls by . subscijp;tiqn, >At »orestJi;~ent.$tatio.n is"·IolOated .in presen t . the _tot.,,) boo~: •.fyn.d~;;i~ ..jl;hnest Rio fi¢dras;iin ·,the;· same ,complex. of $5)0C>0,' of which48.5P,is ~I':!!~ide. fOIs\lb· . . ... buildings£,ntp tihJl J;n~!IlarA.gricuJtural seriptions .to' periodiCais, 'Experun.el!~ $.tati,o.Q, .Finally, the. receo t· eco Il1Jl!eX,pt ,buU{{: . +-ci~.~d..iP, the Iy found.<@. iiOSl,i tllto.,·,de ' AgrictJltura iqg~" as ,th~Inslliar .Agri<;u!t~~·EJrperi. Trop!ClIl.$4¢r ' th.:;, .9 istinguishedd'n.yc mont .Station_.is . the' Federal ,Forest oologist'Gari'(>s;;e, £ h,!;rd6" .is 10,c ated ,in Experiment , Sta:ti~n, H"re": tli'ere is" a ){ay;a~!'2;;';IHs sllPp.o,rted, hy,;the in· smau , ~~~king ' Goli~ti~rl: of ::abo,u t,' a sular $pvernment, thousand volumes ·on various aspects of Starting . in Rio Piedras,,,we find;, '" forestry .a ndJ()rest econGnUcs, as ,well as fairly significant libmry in the ' Insl1lar a lar,ge. n!=b'lroPt:~qf~t:eXperirilent' sta Agri",ltu,i:al,:Experim~nt Sta1,ion,,(ol<the, t,i.on. bu,ll",tins:, TjIis 'cAllect;iprr I i~. lilider, : CoUeg~ ; G( ,AgricultUre , 'and, U .ecluinic the jurisdiction .of ,the,: librarjan ,of the: Arts),' 'i;he,statioll,Jib,rllr¥, was;b~gW'l':1lS United Stat~sQ;ep~th}ettP '9&·.(\g.ri9)1, . .:.~ .. . ' .' . early is..•.,9-iS' ~t,;whJ.Ch tim~a,njuD,!ltr~J. tur,e. '.. ' . books hi!d~ 'alieady ~ been., receiyed , ~ Of th~ yariqus' !iQ~W~~" m., ¥li.yl!o~ez efforts'l'l'ere,heing.wade to establlsli ,~. th.e. ~ost imP9~tan~ i~tJlar()~ t,hl! ieed~Ial, ch,uro'e ,Jelationshlps." ,with'.. eXp,eri:intlll Agciculturat ..E,qi,erim~nt.; '.S yj.til'!!l' T:liis~ . ltaltiODtIi;:W. ih~QntinenW Uni~~tes, collectipp. i!!::.als9;lIn.oerilt.!le:jl,lTii;diction,of . ':Airietica, .iP1iJ. , tr~pi~ 'r,egionj; in tlje., libJari,an , of ' th~,ilJ.l?i~d ,States , Pe, iteJ,etlu."'lll"'I/)JQ , Direptilr, Eilmundo p&l'brJ.,eIl,t 9LAg,dtulWre~ . The libraJiY . !fui'alo/',Arojec:t and contains ' abo.u,ct tw.enty · thollsand· vQI· '1ll(~iei?,ting ~9 !,gri,cu)t)lr~ and is iD, the !if 'ilie' distribualso tion'.in· col' c\\,~tO,J:ly oJ.a fiill,JioItlibrarianemp)oY.ed ,1lJXl!lic>atillri':s,. ~Lti~mi~e~f linde,r funps'providedby t1re.,gqYel111Dimt causcd,gr,e.l!it;,<wpage' to 'the 'libi;lt;y., -of Puer:to~,ko at. a-.sal~.'6f $1180<;>: a· as a result oj this,disMt~, the ~QfJe;:. year, :rhe books.are 'Ciassilied ."oco{dmg
.was moved, ·in, 1939" into a :~a;;'!y to the:.schtmIe \I!;~d.iq. th~ mai!l,j.jbrari;!n
. .," '., .' .
ful)s~mt.ial:Structure, remodeled, to ~tis W.~SliliigtPll, The .' fourth .agricultural Jjbiiuy . ill
specific ,\illrary;'Deeds,"Un:til tbe of 19~ f"~libra.ry wI's ,gllj;8tal~ Pueftci Rico,~that <bf ·th~ , In~tu~Cr '.<1e
un~sStfied in#pittl' ~{ tht.fIUlUohat A~ncn1~ur.i([~p!a,u! ,is: cittlY,'t/tr,~ i#~
"MelYilli: 'l'.'cllOok _.tid Jo~·'L· Otero, "Hislilry ~ld ~Jt'tjs, l\~()~gira;p"~Yi ItlIs:up<l# t!ie
• ~~:'Quaite'~1 "cCett!uIy:m·1he,Acrlcult.tiral hbrArl>4\shjp . .of, M;r., Jp~, l; O!ero, for &I . ;gtation"al Rio.:.Riedris, .Puer~ .Ried/' many. years !;he .\ibr".ria:n.,of ,llie 'Insular Iiico Universit~ .CQUege -of- A8ricul~re AgneliltiIial~..E...ru!'rIDi~8t, Sta:tion' Rio MeCharuc@fs, l\irit.lItiii'!l'E.p.rime.i(StJ.:, , < .," ~ .~" "~f."" <~-~"" '" ," ~ .,' . 1D ,
Pieo/as' Between ' 194.'1. '.~d 194'5 the ·
~l!II-"'\, XlllV (I93~jl<94--<J.9:" , dred
sam
:!~~:~;!~::'~ whQ~,du*~:
sum"
'(
.:
THE LIBRARY QUARTERLY
Instituto spent about $14,000 on books, which, when translated into tenns of ac cessions, amounted to 4,573 volumes at the end of the fiscal year '944-45. An annual appropriation of $410 is set aside for scientific periodicals, of which about sixty (exclusive of government docu ments) are currently received. J' The library of the College of Agricul ture and Mechanic Arts resembles a liberal arts college library more than an agricultural library, although there is some emphasis on scientific publications. The college itself has never attained prestige in its field comparable to that of the faculties in Rio Piedras. As of 1945, the college library held '5,559 volumes, and new accessions were coming in at the approximate rate of 2.. tho~s'''nd volumes annually. There is little material of any value to research in any scientific field, but it is encouraging to note that in '944- 45 $3,600 was spent for completing periodical sets. At present the library maintains subscriptions to about '40 periodicals. The total budget for '944-45 was $28,54o-a considerable advance over previous years but still less than half of what was being spent on the human istic and professional collections in Rio Piedras." In addition to the University of Puerto Rico and the College of Agriculture there are two other institutions of higher edu cation in Puerto Rico-the Institu to Politecnico in San German and the Colegio del Sagrado Corazon, a Catholic girls' school, in Santurce, between San JI Tbe growth of the library may be traced by referring to Puerto Rico, Instituto de Agricultura Tropical, In/orme anuaJ del diru,k1,. I9tp-'13, pp . 1~J2 . and InJorWJ.e anuat dd diTedor, J94J-44. pp. to-l2 , with illustrations of the premises. lJ Unpublished report for 1943- 44 of the library of the College of Agriculture and Mechanic Arts, Puerto Rico University.
Juan and Rio Piedras. The misnamed
Instituto Politecnico is actually a coedu·
cational liberal arts college. Founded in
'9'2 as a private school, the Instituto
inaugurated its college department ill
'921. It is far smaller than the university,
having only 3'9 students as agains!
3,508 in Rio Piedras and 780 in Maya
gtiez in '944-45. The library contains
13,805 books, consisting largely of gener·
al works in the humani ties and the
sciences, with an attempt to approach as
closely as possible the American stand·
ards for a liberal arts college library .
Periodicals and most government docu
ments are not accessioned. At presen!
'39 periodicals are currently received by
subscription. The library is not especial·
Iy well supported, operating on a budge!
of $3,595.42 ('944-45), two-thirds of
which is derived from student fees.
The only other college library in
Puerto Rico is that of the Colegio del
Sagrado CoraWn , whose college depart·
ment was founded in 1935. The library
contains '3 ,250 volumes of a character
similar to collections in North American
Catholic girls' colleges. Some fifty peri .
"odicals of a general nature are received currently. It is the only library in Puerto Rico which separates its public card catalog into author-and-title and sub· ject catalogs; and it is stated by the librarian that the practicality of this measure has been justified by more intelligent use of the library by students. Like the Instituto Politecnico, this Ii · brary is largely supported by student fees. The Insular Department of Education Library in San Juan is a fully cataloged collection of some four thousand titles of pedagogical content. Over fifty periodi cal titles are currently received. It is the
only education library outside the uni·
versity, and it is designed to serve teach·
•
0,
f;
.," b,
237 Iras.~
The misnamed actually a ~ coed u college. Founded in ;chool, the lnstitu to liege department" iQ r than the univerS\ty, students as · agail.. ,L " and 780 in Maya· Phe lihrary cont!1jli ~ ,ting largely of getter· humanities and !Do tempt to approach as the American stand' arts college libr:a,ry. st government d oco. essioned. At present :urrentlyreceived:hy brary is not espedal 'perating on a budget 1-45); ~ tw6-thirds 01 '01 studenli"feeS. . C6ll~ge Iibraryh n .t of the ~ Colegio 'dol .hose ~college depart in 1935: 'The lihr(U')' lurnes of a charact~r IS in NOrth· American >ges. Some fifty peti I nature are received mly library in FuerLa LteS its public card Ir-and-title .·and ··sub it is stated by the practicality of thil I justified by mth e library ·bystudents. . polite¢nico, this Ii. Ippotted >hy stude!)! )
is~
artrnentofEducatiQn n is a fully··Clitaloged our thousand titles:Ol t. Over fifty periodi .t1y received . It is··the rary outside the uni signed to serve teach
ers. principalsj . and. sthQO'I supervisors thr0\lghout : the dsland: It is in the custOdy· of a .trained liill'arian. There are"said to be tJ;Ur.ty-five hlgh sch6p! libraxiesin Puerto Rico, Most of them" are neglected, uncataloged; 'and un read : The Office of Statistics.··ofthe In lnllar Depar.tment of Education in San Juan states that these tbirty"nve li bra'ries wntain 40,953 volumes .in Eng lish and 40;834 in Spanish. PeTSQJ;lalin \'CStigations of those which are alleged to be.tjie best, Ponce and San Juan, feveal !f,1'&e·.nilmbers of duplicates (often ten or m'or,Eo copies of the same book) and a pre »O!!derance' of textbooks- over collateral. Ind ' recreational reading. If any serious l ltempt is made to build up school horaries in }lue.rto Rico, these collections wiU be·of.little value,.even ,as,« founaa"
J'
tiWt:'
D.uring the war, libraries wereestab
li~ed' in Puerto Rico on the various mili~ry
ana.. naval reservations, but thllS!":are neither, permanent installations nor 'a re..they·devoted to the service of the people of Puerto Rico. There is a good (ha:nce ·that they will be convertea into hOljj5itallib'¥ies which·the feaeral gov ~rn'.ment will.maintain for Puerto Rican v~t~ians, even if the islana becomes inae ~den t . At ,al'I events, these collections !hOWa not ·be removecl from Puerto RiCo,;' uthe»' are not aevoted to the aervice of ilie veterans, there is ample QPPO):1:unity to put them to gooa use in Ihdnunicipallibraries. . JJ Gropp,.. op. cit., reported twenty,-four high 1Choollibrades, and other figures are available in the
annua.J .r:epor;ts -o f.the insular commissioner of educa tion. The 'hurricanes have been particularly vicious of books in Puerto' Rican high-school li Mr. Thomas S. Hayes, librarian of the Uni Puerto Rico, st1l.t.es that when he went B,,!"oaC!~&S principal of the high school in 19;27, excellent -although-uncataJoged colle.c
~f ;:'~~:~~'I~Si'xdestroyed thousand tities."The entire library 11' in the-hurricane of 19~8.
The :clefrcien,;ies of,. Puet-to Rican<.Ji" braries are legion,. Asiae, ,j,toll) :' ~or;: fi· , naneial support,in;:norrnal,tir(>es; the,la:ck of professionalin,terei;ts arnbnlrlibrarians ana of co-operative projects;;s 'a signffi cant factor in' a&OUllting for .the weak ness of the . libraries. Puerto Rican· li brarians hiLVe no organizational activities -a rnaUer al'I the more importMl t be cause of amculties involvecl ·in. partici pating in confer-ences helcl in the United States. Badly needed· projects .such. as a Puerto Rican union catalog, . co operative purchasing agreernents, ana improvement of extension services coula be promoted by closer association of professional librarians , Co-operation is neeaed particularly -a>nong the academic ana special . li- . br-aries. Elimination of auplitation of; effort ana expenaiture should be specia!: goals of these libraries in. view of. thee limitecl resources of- the ,islana, both· in terms of finances and in terms· 'o f pro fessional manpower ·available. For, ex ample,. it might well ' prove' to be im practical to alter the administrative or geographic position of the . four agri cultural libraries; but it would not be too big a job to draw up a union list of serials held by these libraries ana to eliminate duplication of subscriptions to expensive scientific periodicals; By the same token, the establishment of a medical school in Ponce would necessi tate an otherwise unjustifiecl duplicl1-tion of many expensive medical periodicals presently available in the library of the School of Tropical Medicine, From the standpoint of popillar li braries, the most effective measu·re would be an aggressive prqgram· unaer taken by the insular government to bring library service to ·the hundreas of thousands of Puerto Ricans who ao not now have access to books of any sort. At
THE LIBRARY QUARTERLY
present Puerto Rico spends a relatively tion, it is impossible to overlook the large proportion of the total govern difficulties involved in making library mental revenue on education. 34 Very readers of a people whose illiteracy ratl' little is devoted to libraries or, for that is as high as it is in Puerto Rico. If n matter, to any other projects for con Puerto Rican library system is to be tinuing formal education. Outside of constructed with the primary goal 01 what is given to the Carnegie Library, serving children and young people, i I nothing is appropriated to get books to would possibly be best approached by reorganizing the high-school libraries to the masses. Puerto Rican educators might consid serve as public libraries in addition tn er the advisabili ty of establishing an their fun ctions as school libraries. insular library service commission along The one dark side of tlie picture fUI the lines of North American state library the future of libraries in Puerto Rico i, commissions in some of our states with the immediate prospect of declining ap large rural populations. Before attempt propriations as the insular government", ing to transplant North American meth income from rum taxes decreases. Thr ods, however, it would be well to give due appropriations for the University of consideration to specifi'-.£haracteristic.s Puer.to Rico have already been cut, and of Puerto Rican popular culture, such as it will not be unreasonable to expect thai those described by Rodriguez Bou and those of other institutions will follow. On Rogier. As a policy it might be most ef the other hand , Puerto Rico has today, fective to concentrate on bringing li larger number of trained technicians in braries to the you th; for no matter how all fields, including Iibrarianship, than enthusiastic one may be for adult educa- ever before. It is up to them to make up Jf According to Writers' Program, op. Cil' p. for any budgetary deficiencies by cn 125. about one-third of tbe total governmental operative effort and by wise managemenl revenue was spent on edU(:8.tion in "normal" times of their own insti tu tions. prior to World War 11. 1