In april, I was contacted by Mr. Jim Larsson at the
Swedish-Uruguayan Cultural Institute about coming to Montevideo to talk about
public libraries. I had never heard of this institute, and had to check twice
that it really existed before getting back to him saying that I would
definitively consider coming - but what was expected of me? The initial plan
was that I should give a speech at a book fair in Montevideo on the role of
public libraries in the Nordic countries, as Nordic literature would be one of
the themes of the fair. After a couple of months of discussions and practical
arrangements, the pieces finally came together, and I found myself on a plane
bound for South America. During the course of our discussions, the event grew
and as I landed in sunny Montevideo, I had a full week of work ahead of me.
The main event was a seminar on October 10 at the 36th Feria
International del Libro in Montevideo. The event gathered some 300 of the
city’s librarians in a discussion on the future and the present state of
Uruguayan libraries.
It was a highly inspirational event, and the discussion
was very fruitful. It is interesting to note, that wherever you go, the
fundamental problems and concerns about public libraries are pretty much the
same. Material and political conditions may differ, but the need to find vital
forms for cutural activities, platforms for critical political and cultural
discussions is the same everywhere. A belief in the ability of public libraries
in this respect was felt very clearly by the present librarians of Uruguay, a
country which has a proud history of social welfare, but which suffered severly
during the economic fall some ten years ago. The impression the visit gave me
of the Uruguayan library sector is that it is both ambitious and determined to
provide library services worthy of a welfare state to all citizens of the
country.
There have been several political initiatives during the
present government which carry the potential to be of significance for
libraries. For instance, a decision to provide every child in a public school
with his/her own laptop or iPad has meant that a large part of the population
now, through the kids, have access to the international flow of knowledge and
information on the Internet. This is a reform that at least at a first glance
seems like a stroke of political genious in a country like Uruguay. Not only
can it be helpful as school books are scarce and of poor quality, but it can
open for new dimension in librarianship, as one of the most severe problems in
the libraries I visited clearly was the lack of relevant media. Lack of media
is, of course, a substantial problem in a library.
At the book fair seminar, many questions concerned the present
state of Swedish and Nordic libraries, as they still are seen as models of ”the
good library”. The view on Swedish society is still coloured by the social
democratic welfare state of the 1960’s and 70’s, renowned throughout the world
for its humanistic approach to politics. That we now have left that behind and
entered a social era defined by other parametres than humanism and generosity
seemed to come as a surprise to many. The reason for the almost glorifying view
on Sweden is obvious – many intellectuals took refuge in Sweden in the 1970’s when political
conditions in most of South America were unbearable. I had the pleasure of
meeting several of them on this journey. Uruguay is the first country I have
visited where the librarians and authors I met did not say ”we went to school
together”, but in stead ”we went to jail together”. The stories they told were
both dramatic and deeply moving. In such an environment politics and ideology
is still visible and important, and the advocates of the current left wing
presidency are concerned about the role of public libraries. They know that
libraries can matter a lot, if treated well. The discussion went on for over an
hour revealing structural problems, but also determination and willingness to
solve them, not least through international dialogue. Some problems stood out;
funding, for sure, but also the perhaps even more important question of how to
think about libraries in local communities. I did not feel that I could give a
lot of advice, but of course we do know some things from research. Instead it
was my impression that the discussion in itself was of importance, and the fact
that so many people were gathered at this same occasion provided a common
ground for renewed discussons among librarians and politicians. Living under
financially restrained conditions, as most Uruguayan public libraries do, it
can be difficult to keep above the waterline of everyday decision making and
practice. I hope that the seminar worked as an opportunity for those who
attended to take a break from that and allow themselves to think ahead. It was
obvious that not only questions, but also suggestions and solutions were there
in that room on October 10. For me it was an important experience, and I wish
that some Swedish librarians would have been there to listen, if only to hear the
voices of dedication and determination of their Uruguayan colleagues.
The speech I gave is
here (in Spanish)
.
