Library as Place

The library exists as a universe in which Chicana/o/x and wider Latinx communities are seen, heard and empowered to change and create new narratives. Latinx students built the Chicano Studies Library in support of their own communities. Students, activists, and academics partnered with library workers and even became library workers themselves to keep the library going. Part of the library’s mission was to preserve and make Chicana/o/x knowledge available into the future. Former Director of the Office for Diversity of the American Library Association Sandra Rios Balderrama conveyed the sentiment of many other student workers when she described her work at the library as sacred work. “I say it's sacred work because it's our stories…those books, those materials, those posters, they reflect the spirit of our ancestors.” The students felt a connection to the library that went beyond its walls or any materials housed within it. Besides creating a library, they were creating a kind of home.

The library was never just a place for research, but also a safe space for Latinx students who sometimes felt alone on an overwhelmingly white campus. Former student worker Chela Rios Muñoz remembers “When I came to Berkeley, there were few Chicano or Latino students…Entering campus, it was just a feeling of “Do I belong here?” A feeling of being lost and not necessarily embraced. Going to the Chicano Studies Library, walking in and being with other Chicanos and Latinos and seeing collections that I had never seen before, and feeling accepted and embraced and respected, really made a difference for me…” In the Chicano Studies Library, Latinx students finally had a place on campus where they felt safe. For many, it was the first time they would enter a library built for them, full of materials and stories focused on Chicana/o/x histories through a Chicana/o/x perspective. In the library they saw posters, artwork and newspapers proudly on display that communicated issues and ideas they cared about. Rios Muñoz asked “Where else would you go on campus where you could see some kind of reflection of yourself?” Rios Balderrama echoed Rios Muñoz’ sentiments. When sharing her memories of working in the library, she recalled that “It was primarily a library, but it was also a place that we could gather, that we knew that was safe. It was a place that affirmed us. This was a huge influence on me; the fact that a library that was devoted and committed to preserving and disseminating the story of Chicanos. The fact that this type of library existed was so unusual. It was a place where through the books, through the displays, we were seen.”

One of many communities that found a home in the library was Latina/x women. While women made many contributions to the struggle for social justice on campus and in the community, they were often excluded or expected to stay at home with family. In the tradition of the library, women came together there and created a space for themselves. Former student workers remember having a key and opening the library in the evenings to hold meetings with other women.They created all women activist groups, such as Mujeres del Movimiento. Purita Mesa, a former student worker at the library, remembers being part of this group: “I think we did Mujeres del Movimiento because there was a women's movement going on at the same time. We were pretty powerful and smart and we wanted to establish ourselves. Some of the men on campus didn't see us that way and I think that was the impetus…to do things on our own…Not only did we pursue intellectual things, and help the community, but we were really intimate with each other as women. It was so important to separate ourselves and be alone and spend that time together.” Chabrán and other library staff acknowledged that womens’ voices were underrepresented in the library’s collections and on campus. They supported efforts to address these absences and provided important avenues for expression and affirmation. The library sponsored the Educación En Luz Symposium, an interdisciplinary gathering produced by Mujeres del Movimiento. The symposium was an opportunity for Latinx women scholars to share ideas and connect and featured Chicana authors Anna Nieto-Gómez and Concha Salcedo. Another project that developed out of Chicanas having space in the library was the Bibliography of Writings on la Mujer. The library and its publication unit supported this effort and published the Bibliography of writings on la Mujer in 1976, the first bibliography of its kind. Rios Baldarrama remembers that after completing her work on A Comprehensive Bibliography on La Chicana, an unpublished revision of the Bibliography of writings on la Mujer, a male coworker complained that the bibliography didn’t contain a section on La Familia. Rios Baldarrama explained that the women behind the project wanted to focus on other things that mattered to them like Chicana lesbianism and Chicana labor. The library cultivated an environment where young women working on projects in the library felt empowered to complete them on their own terms.

In addition to creating space for student organizing and social gatherings, the library also fostered unique cultural programs. The library hosted events featuring important voices from the Chicana/o/x community such as activist/scholar Ernesto Galarza and brought Aspectos de la Literatura Chicana, an exhibition of Chicana/o/x Literature, to the Berkeley campus main library. The Chicano Studies Library purchased and collected art from local artists and also provided a venue for them: an essential resource for emerging artists. The library created not only a place, but a platform that celebrates Chicana/o/x culture and heritage for all to see.