On September 13, Berkeley librarians joined representatives from the Cuban National Library to celebrate a first-of-its kind project to give scholars access to materials made difficult to circulate during four decades of a U.S. embargo's trade restrictions. Under a new pact between the UC Berkeley library and the José Martí National Library of Cuba, Cuba's National Library would provide the campus with free, duplicate copies of books, sheet music and journals. That library contains more than 2 million volumes as well as slides, books, photographs, music, periodicals and hundreds of maps documenting Havana's growth since 1615. In return, UC Berkeley would catalog and store duplicates of the materials, making them available via online catalogues and interlibrary loans to researchers across the country.

Eliades Acosta (right) with Carlos Delgado, the librarian of Doe Library's Latin American collection

A public exhibit of 17 cases of Cuban materials at the Bernice Layne Brown Gallery offers a glimpse of the array of information that would be available under the new agreement. The display includes sheet music of the Cuban national anthem and of more contemporary songs; books on Cuban poetry, prose, literary criticism, art, and cinema; and works by and about Cuban hero Jose Martí. It also features such unusual items as handmade books and periodicals composed on scraps of brown grocery bags and cardboard during periods of scarcity in Cuba.

In mid-May, the U.S. Department of the Treasury informed UC Berkeley that a proposed exchange of information and informational materials would be exempt from the longtime trade embargo. Since then, the two sides have been working on details of the exchange. If it is approved, Carlos Delgado, librarian for Latin American collections at UC Berkeley, said potential contributions to scholarship and international relations are immense. "This project, as it contributes to the building of library research collections, will have a long-term impact on Cuban studies in the U.S.," he said. "I think it's a great opportunity not only for Berkeley, but for Cuban or Caribbean scholars throughout the United States." UC Berkeley's immediate goal would be to improve access to Cuban materials that for many years have been difficult to obtain, and to thereby stimulate research and enhance understanding of Cuba, Delgado said.

Charles Faulhaber, director of The Bancroft Library and a professor in the Spanish and Portuguese department, considered the tentative pact very important. "For student purposes, I think it will be very interesting to have the ability to compare the way the Cuban Revolution is presented in these materials, as compared to the way the Mexican Revolution is presented. Both (collections) represent significant political statements about the evolution of Latin America during the 20th century," Faulhaber said. A collection of post-revolutionary Cuban posters that may be digitized and included in the collection would complement The Bancroft Library's existing assortment of posters from the Mexican Revolution, he said. The exchange does not reflect a political position, said Delgado. "At the core of librarianship is our desire to represent various viewpoints. This is not a statement for or against Castro; this is an opportunity to broaden and enrich our collections at Berkeley and in the United States," he said.