Looking after the Bibliographic Heritage of Latin America

Latin America has a rich, varied and very valuable bibliographic and documentary heritage, beginning with the pre-Hispanic pictorial productions - the famous codexes produced in Mexico. In 1539 the first American book was printed in Mexico City. Through the three centuries of colonial domination printing and the book were used as much for evangelizing the natives as for supporting the administration, and eventually also as a tool of the learned elite. During the 19th century, after the achievement of independence, the culture of colonization was ignored or rejected, resulting in numerous collections and other smaller works leaving the country, legally or illegally. ABINIA has now developed a number of projects aimed at saving the region's bibliographic heritage, but a consistent and sustainable policy still needs to be defined. The national libraries are in a good position to organize cooperative programmes, professional exchanges and projects focused on new technology for information management.