Santa Fe's Biblioteca Amigos Library

Abstract

photos : marilyse figueroa outpost F ive minutes away from Santa Fe’s historic downtown, a wooden cart goes in and out of the Youth Development Center. It has been loaded and unloaded, dragged and pushed, narrowly avoiding throwing off the precious words stacked on top of it. The rickety wooden cart has been the secondmost essential commodity for Mara Taub and Demetria Martínez. The first ones were books. Taub, a prisoners’ rights activist, and Martínez, an activist and writer, were contacted by Santa Fe County Corrections advisory committee to come into the youth detention center as volunteers. “All we wanted to do was give extra dictionaries,” Taub explained. She has sent hundreds of copies of dictionaries to residents over the years. However, when Mart ínez visited Taub’s home, the idea to put new books into the library came to each of them. “I think I’ve always had a frustrated librarian in me. I got so excited at the prospect,” Martínez said. They both realized this library needed more than dictionaries. They believed the library should be a haven for the inmates. A young man at the center affirmed their dream by saying he “reads books to escape.” When they arrived, the library was more a closet for books than a vessel for them. The books were unreadable : some had torn covers; many were missing pages. With the support of the staff, especially Aaron Garcia and Renee Hernandez, no one saw a mess; instead, they saw an opportunity to bring new life into the library. After four months of dedicated work, the Biblioteca Amigos Library was ready to open in July. The honored guests were the young residents themselves. Guest speakers Pablo Kelly and Blanca Ortiz spoke about thepowerofwordsandhowbookscan change lives. Martínez read poems written at the center’s poetry workshop . A poem called “Trapped” thickly coated the room in silence; another , “Joy,” was like a ladder to the sun. After the ceremony, the residents investigated the library. On the door was the sign Biblioteca, Spanish for library. “We didn’t ask,” Martínez said. “We just put it up.” By adding a bilingual atmosphere, the volunteers hoped the library would feel welcoming to young men and women who have frontera /borderland identities. The House on Mango Street, Bless Me, Última, and many other recognizable works of Latin American literature were available . The inmates looked through a new fantasy and science-fiction section , young-adult novels, and the volunteers ’ favorite section, Spanish-language and bilingual books. The residents browsed and made their final selections. A young woman went straight to the outdoor enclosed area, sat underneath a panel of sunlight , and began reading her new book immediately. “Sometimes what we do isn’t so visible,” Taub said, “but to see these young people walk out with armloads . . . I could’ve wept.” For the young men and women here, this may be just a place they pass through. However, Taub and Martínez want them to leave with some hope and, of course, with an armful of books. Marilyse Figueroa is a former WLT intern. She currently lives in San Antonio, Texas. Santa Fe’s Biblioteca Amigos Library Marilyse Figueroa 80 worldliteraturetoday.org Demetria Martínez (left) and Mara Taub Visit the WLT website to view additional photos and to read Marilyse’s blog post about literature and activism. ...