The Division of Libraries, Archives and Museums has partnered with the Virgin Islands-Puerto Rico Friendship Committee in Celebration of Hispanic Heritage month to debut its “Coleccion Hispana” from 5:30-7:30 p.m., on Friday, Sept. 28, at the Florence Williams Public Library, according to a press release issued Wednesday by Commissioner Alicia V. Barnes of the Department of Planning and Natural Resources.
The Virgin Islands-Puerto Rico Friendship Committee embarked on starting this project in 2006 in acquiring space in the Florence Williams Public Library for the collection. In 2007, under the leadership of Zoraida Jacobs, a dedication took place at the library. That was the stepping stone towards another phase of the project.
In 2009, the Division of Libraries, Archives and Museums acquired some Spanish books through the Library of Congress Free Surplus Books Program. The books, though on island, were shelved unavailable to be circulated due to the challenge of the need for cataloging by a bilingual professional librarian. The VIPR Committee held two “Arroz con Pollo” fund raising festivals for a bilingual professional librarian/cataloguer. With the proceeds from the very successful festivals, the VIPR committee hired the services of Margaret Colón, library automation consultant from Puerto Rico. Colon and the public library personnel on St. Croix and St. Thomas worked as a team through a very lengthy process to make this realization a success.
In early 2011, to supplement the collection, the Division ordered approximately 400 Spanish books with the review and selection by the VI-PR committee. In addition, the library’s Web site has many electronic resources under the online tab Biblioteca En Espanol.
For more information, contact Ingrid Bough, territorial director of Libraries, Archives and Museums at 773-5715 or Domitila Vargas, VIPR chairperson, at 227-4228 or visit the V.I. Public Libraries web site at www.virginislandspubliclibraries.org