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Foreword
Prudence W. Dalrymple
Chair, Editorial Board
With this issue of World Libraries, Dominican University's Graduate
School of Library and Information Science makes available papers focusing
on libraries in Cuba. Drawing on the tradition of symposia, this issue
presents a collection of opinions on various aspects of its subject. Its
appearance was prompted by the agreement of the Cuban delegation to the joint
American Library Association/Canadian Library Association 2003 Annual Conference
to make their papers available for translation and further dissemination. Please
refer to the Introduction for a detailed history of this issue. In addition
to the contributions of Cuban librarians, the papers in this issue illustrate
the strength of opinions and variety of experiences surrounding Cuba today. Other
papers exemplify the growing number of cultural, educational and intellectual
exchanges that exist among active professionals throughout the world, including
Cuba.
Despite the introduction of President Franklin D. Roosevelt's "Good
Neighbor Policy" in the 1930's, economic, political, and cultural relations
between the United States and each of the
Latin American countries have varied over
the years. A notable advance in library relations occurred with the opening
of the Benjamin Franklin Library in Mexico City in 1942 and the growth of
bi-national center libraries in the 1950's and 1960's. Many of the readers
of World Libraries came of
age during the 1960s, shortly after the collapse
of the government of Fulgencio Batista and the rise to power of President
Fidel Castro. The régime
change in Cuba which brought Castro to power
in 1960, has resulted in strained relations between the countries ever since,
and the expulsion of Cuba from the Organization of American States (OAS) meant
that Cuba was unable to participate in the OAS Library Development Program
(LDP). Furthermore, it has been difficult for American librarians to visit
Cuba, to correspond with its professional librarians, or to learn firsthand
about the status of Cuban librarianship. Nevertheless, it should be noted
that Cuba remained active in other intergovernmental organizations such as
UNESCO and non-governmental organizations such as the International Federation
of Library Associations and Institutions (IFLA). Indeed, Havana was the site
of the 1994 IFLA Congress, the first time in Latin America.
We want to make clear what this issue of World Libraries is and
what it is not. For a variety of reasons (including deadlines for journal
publication), it was not possible to create an overall survey of all aspects
(e.g., academic, public, school, special libraries) of the contemporary library
in Cuba. Rather, this issue is in effect, a number of snapshots of certain
aspects of Cuban librarianship in the early twenty-first century. It
is not intended to provide an exhaustive survey or in-depth analysis of the
development of libraries in Cuba. The totality of this compilation indicates
the multiple viewpoints surrounding Cuba and especially its relationship with
its neighbor to the north, a relationship that shifts daily as events unfold.
Despite the "heat" of some opinions, we hope that this symposium
will also provide "light" that will enable the thoughtful reader
to appreciate the complexities of the issues and will facilitate the flow
of ideas and the engagement of fruitful dialogue. Despite the various
limitations enumerated above, we hope that this issue of World Libraries contributes
to a better understanding of the contemporary library scene in Cuba. At the
same time, we believe it shows that much more needs to be done to ascertain
the nature and extent of Cuban-American library relations in the second half
of the twentieth century and beyond.
Many persons contributed to this "Cuban issue" of World Libraries,
and the editors are grateful to them. To authors we extend our thanks for
their patience and understanding as their articles were edited and, in some
cases, translated from the Spanish. The authors from Cuba prepared their work
for oral presentation at the ALA/CLA conference in Toronto, and this of course
created some problems in editing and translating. We express our gratitude
to Jane Carpenter for coping so well with these special challenges. Suggestions
and help also came from Michael Dowling, director of the ALA Office of International
Relations. Finally, a word about the timing of this issue. Given the
current nature of the articles, we were anxious to have this number appear
as soon as possible, and thus we resisted the temptation to broaden its coverage.
Nevertheless, time was lost in the second half of 2004, when questions arose
about the effect of the United States government's embargo on intellectual
property. Indeed, recent U.S. regulations regarding publication and
translation of materials from certain embargoed countries, including Cuba,
slowed the appearance of this issue of World Libraries.
During the development phase of this issue, plans
to convert World Libraries to a digital open source publication took
shape under the guidance of Edward Valauskas,
founding editor of First
Monday and holder of the Follett Chair in the Graduate School of Library
and Information Science. He and his students
have designed the digital format for World Libraries, available at
http://www.worlib.org/. This issue marked both
the last of the print publications and the first
of the digital publications of the journal. World
Libraries will
continue to produce a CD-ROM version for its
subscribers in areas where high speed Internet
access is not available. The move to open source
publication is expected to increase readership
and encourage contributions from an even broader
community of librarians and scholars throughout
the world. As well, this issue is my last as
Chair of the Editorial Board. I am deeply appreciative
of the opportunity to work with World
Libraries authors,
outgoing Editor Johan Koren, Managing Editor
Linda Vertrees and Consulting Editor William
V. Jackson. The GSLIS faculty have provided guidance
and direction, as well as reviewing manuscripts
and books for publication. Mary Wagner will be
the Editor for the next issue. I am very excited
about the evolution of World Libraries in its
new format, and look forward to its future growth
and vitality.
© 2005 Prudence W. Dalrymple
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