Looking at libraries in Mexico, and at the Mexican Revolution
What do Mexican libraries look like? Maureen Moore, who works for the Library Foundation of Los Angeles, had unique access when she recently traveled to Mexico. There she visited several, and brought her camera with her. Above, students study in the science department of the Central Library in Oaxaca City.
In a post at the Library Foundation's blog, she also includes a picture from Biblioteca Henestrosa, which focuses on Mexican history and Latin American literature and is part exhibition space, part library. Rather than being a public library, it's funded by a single philanthropist.
The Institute of Graphic Arts of Oaxaca and Mexico City's ultramodern Vasconcelos library were also on her Mexico tour.
The post serves as a gentle reminder to visit the L.A. Public Library's photo exhibit, "A Nation Emerges: The Mexican Revolution Revealed," which closes soon. The show, which includes photographs of Francisco "Pancho" Villa, a scraggly military band and resolute female revolutionaries, has more than 130 items, mostly from special collections at the Getty Research Institute.
In addition to photos, there are prints, maps, posters and items from the Center for the Study of Political Graphics. It's on exhibit in the Central Library's Getty Gallery through June 2.
The library has suggested a 16-book reading list to learn more about the Mexican Revolution, including "Insurgent Mexico" by American John Reed, who traveled with Villa's fighters, and John Womack's biography "Zapata and the Mexican Revolution."
-- Carolyn Kellogg
Photo: A room in the Central Library in Oaxaca City. Credit: Maureen Moore / Library Foundation of Los Angeles