Not everyone has forgotten Cuba's independent librarians. Fidel Castro continues to grind his heel into their backs, and a few friends around the world still notice, including the editorial page of The Wall Street Journal.
It wasn't the Santa Clauses and candy canes decking the halls of the U.S. diplomatic office in Havana that prompted Fidel Castro to order the Christmas decorations dismantled there. It was the light display forming the number 75.That's how many political dissidents Castro rounded up in March 2003 and threw into Cuban jails. At their trials, these librarians, journalists and peaceful political activists received sentences of up to 28 years. Now a loosely connected international movement of librarians is refusing to forget their Cuban colleagues.
One inspiring example comes from the town of Vermillion, South Dakota, whose public library is sponsoring the independent--that is, not government-run--Dulce Maria Loynaz Library in Havana. The Loynaz Library was one of the institutions singled out during the 2003 crackdown. The director's husband, Hector Palacios, was arrested and sentenced to 25 years in prison. Most of the library's books were confiscated by the police.
The French cities of Paris and Strasbourg also support independent libraries in Cuba. In once-Communist Poland, the Librarians Association has issued an eloquent statement calling for an end to the repression: "The actions of the Cuban authorities relate to the worst traditions of repressing the freedom of thought, expression and information exchange, exercised by all regimes throughout the history," the statement reads. Meanwhile, in Havana, Castro insists there is no censorship.
He, too, has the support of some of the world's librarians. The International Federation of Library Associations has just named an "official" Cuban librarian to its Intellectual Freedom Committee, which is to say, they've picked someone who supports government censorship. Earlier this year the American Library Association's governing council rejected a resolution asking Castro for the immediate release of the imprisoned librarians. Some ALA leaders refuse to recognize the independent librarians because they don't have official library degrees, which of course they can get only from Fidel.
Mark Wetmore, a Vermillion Library trustee tells us, "It diminishes all our libraries a little if we know that there are people being persecuted for trying to operate free, uncensored ones and we don't at least try to do something about it." It's too bad more of the world's librarians don't also see a moral obligation to their Cuban brethren who want to read freely.
The folks of Vermillion, South Dakota must have a fine public library. Their Library Board of Trustees went where others fear to tread earlier.
The Vermillion, South Dakota, Public Library Board of Trustees took a stand for intellectual freedom on November 18 when it voted to sponsor the Dulce Maria Loynaz Library in Havana, Cuba.Cuba's Dulce Maria Loynaz Library, an unofficial institution free of government control, is one of approximately 250 independent libraries founded since 1998 to challenge restrictions on freedom of information. The goal of Cuba's independent library movement is to offer public access to uncensored books reflecting all points of view.
In March, 2003, many of the independent libraries in Cuba were raided by the State Security police, resulting in lengthy prison terms for more than a dozen librarians. All of those jailed have been recognized as "prisoners of conscience" by Amnesty International, which is calling for their immediate release.
The Dulce Maria Loynaz Library was one of the institutions singled out during the 2003 crackdown. The director, Gisela Delgado, was not detained during the raid on her library, but her husband, Hector Palacios, was arrested and sentenced to 25 years in prison. During the raid, most of the Loynaz Library's books were confiscated by the police. The Cuban courts have ordered the burning of many of the books seized from the independent librarians.
"Cuba's independent librarians have been targeted for repression because of their principled challenge to censorship," said Jon Flanagin, president of the Vermillion library trustees. "We felt we had a moral obligation to offer our support." Flanagin emphasized that the library trustees' action will be funded solely by private donations and at no cost to the Vermillion library or to the city. The first two volumes shipped to Cuba were a collection of Mark Twain and the first of the Harry Potter series, both in Spanish.
"A hundred years ago the Vermillion library started out with 300 volumes, about the same number of books as the Dulce Maria Loynaz library had before it was raided," Mark Wetmore, vice president of the trustees, stated. "But Vermillion's library grew rapidly from that beginning, in a society that nurtured free access to all types of information. We hope that our sponsorship of an independent Cuban library will, in some small way, help that process there, as well as encourage other American libraries to offer similar support."
With this action, Vermillion joins the French cities of Paris and Strasbourg, which have also formally adopted a number of Cuba's independent libraries. The Cuban library is the second with which Vermillion has established a special relationship; in 1989, it adopted the library in its sister city, Ratingen, Germany.
The Vermillion board exercised a fine sense of irony with their gesture. The works of Mark Twain and the Harry Potter novels are among the books that know-nothings here in the U.S. most try to ban, according to the American Library Association, which has plenty of fire to protect pornography in libraries and none to help fellow librarians rotting in Castro's jails.
Posted by Alan at December 25, 2004 02:26 AM