Posted December 10, 2004.

South Dakota Library Sponsors an Independent Cuban Library

Trustees of the Vermillion (S. Dak.) Public Library voted November 18 to sponsor one of the controversial independent libraries affected by a crackdown on dissidents by the Cuban government in March 2003. The Biblioteca Dulce María Loynaz in Havana is one of approximately 250 collections belonging to the Independent Library Project of Cuba, founded in 1998 to provide access to materials said not to be readily available in the country’s network of public libraries.

“Cuba’s independent librarians have been targeted for repression because of their principled challenge to censorship,” said VPL Board President Jon Flanagin. “We felt we had a moral obligation to offer our support.” The sponsorship involves sending the Cuban library books funded solely by private donations and at no cost to the library or the city. The first two books shipped were Spanish-language editions of Mark Twain and Harry Potter.

The Loynaz collection’s director, Gisela Delgado, is the wife of veteran opposition politician Hector Palacios, who since the crackdown has been serving a 25-year sentence in a provincial penitentiary. The Associated Press reported December 1 that Palacios was one of 18 dissidents transferred recently to the main prison hospital in Havana, raising hopes that they might be released early.

VPL Board Vice President Mark Wetmore said in the December 8 Sioux City Journal that he believes Vermillion is the first library in the United States to sponsor a Cuban independent library.

Posted December 10, 2004.