It reinforces to those of us on the U.S. side of the river that our tradition of free and open public libraries, with very high levels of services and collections, is truly special and unique. For many of the San Antonio Public Library librarians, the most impressive tour was that of Ricardo Legoretta's second library, the Biblioteca Central Magna. Originally conceived as a presidential library for Mexico's ex-president Salinas de Gotari, it was later turned over to the state university system as their main library. The library is circular rather than rectangular and has many smaller reading areas and multi-purpose rooms. It houses a computer lab that is open to the public for a small fee.
Patrons can use the Web, print graphics or text, and create documents.
There is also a training room available for Internet and software instruction. Last summer, librarians organized a three-week summer program at the library for small children, including those from families with limited incomes. As we found in our three previous visits to Mexico, at all stops we were greeted warmly and graciously by our librarian hosts. At the state university library known as the Capilla Alfonsina we were greeted by the director, Jorge Pedraza Salinas, who gave us a wonderful introduction to the library and a tour of the Alfonso Reyes collection. The highlight of the trip was, of course, the International Book Fair, which opened on Saturday and remained open throughout the week.