The Friends of Cuban Libraries

Nov. 5, 2009

New York City librarians welcome the visit to our city by Dr. Eduardo Torres Cuevas, the distinguished Cuban historian who is the director of Havana's National Library. At 2:30 on Friday, Nov. 6, Dr. Torres Cuevas will speak at an open forum on Cuban libraries, to held at the Hunter College Library (3rd floor browser's lounge).

While welcoming Dr. Torres Cuevas's visit, New York librarians need to be aware of Cuba's system of censorship, which severely limits freedom of expression. All of the Cuban media reflect one point of view. While many nations filter or ban Internet websites, Cuba is one of the few nations in the world which criminalizes access to the entire World Wide Web, except for a few persons considered trustworthy and foreign tourists, who are charged up to $9 per hour for this privilege.

New York librarians attending the Open Forum on Cuban libraries also need to be aware of Cuba's unique status as a nation where library workers are being systematically persecuted. Since the founding of Cuba's pioneering independent library movement in 1998, more than 200 libraries have been opened throughout the island with the goal of providing public access to information representing all points of view. Because of their principled stand against censorship, Cuba's independent library workers are being subjected to harassment, threats, mob attacks, police raids, 20-year prison terms and the court-ordered BURNING of entire library collections, including classics such as George Orwell's "1984" and "Animal Farm." All of the independent librarians jailed in Cuba have been adopted as prisoners of conscience by Amnesty International, which is calling for their immediate and unconditional release.

Dr. Torres Cuevas did not create this unfortunate situation, but New York City librarians have a right to respectfully ask him about Cuban censorship and how Cuba's librarians, both "official" and independent, are fulfilling their duty to defend freedom of expression, the core principle of library workers around the world.

Among the courteous questions which the audience can ask Dr.Torres Cuevas at the Open Forum are the following:

"What can be done to bring about reconciliation between Cuba's official Library Association and the island's independent library movement?"

"What can the international community do to encourage the release of Cuba's jailed independent librarians?"

"While the cases of jailed Cuba librarians are being reviewed, what can we do to obtain medical care for prisoners whose health is failing, such as Jose Luis García Paneque?"

"While a fiberoptic cable to the island is being completed, will the Cuban National Library lobby for legalization of access to the World Wide Web?"

"What is the National Library doing to dismantle the Soviet-based library model, which bans access to books such as "Animal Farm," "1984" and the works of renowned Cuban authors such as Guillermo Cabrera Infante?"

"In October it was reported that Raydel, a National Library employee, was accused of being a "terrorist" and fired from his job because he criticized the failure of the official library union to address staff complaints. What is being done to correct this injustice?"

"Can you clarify the situation of Mr. Eliades Acosta, the former National Library director who was reportedly purged in 2008 after he called for an end to government censorship?"

"What does the Cuban Library Association's Code of Ethics say about intellectual freedom, and how is the Code of Ethics being implemented?"