Hispanic Resources: News & Events: Happy New Year/ Feliz Año/ Feliz Ano Novo!

Happy New Year/ feliz año/ feliz ano novo from the Library of Congress’ Hispanic Division! We feel privileged for the opportunities 2019 offered to continue our mission of sharing the Library’s wonderfully rich Luso-Hispanic collections. We are thrilled to welcome 2020 and look forward to its surprises. 

In case you missed it, here are some highlights from this past year:

Jaime Conlan and Sam Awad, an intern and Librarian in Residence, shared accounts of their work in the “Library of Congress, 4 Corners of the World” blog. We are grateful to learn with these budding professionals. 

We inaugurated a new series of events in our Reading Room’s vestibule to connect the public with distinctive collections and services against the backdrop of the impressive Portinari Murals. With nearly 30 partners, we welcomed 765 participants to combined collections displays, presentations or readings, and maker workshops.  Some highlights included a reading with Portuguese award-winning poet Ana Luisa Amaral; an homage to the late Argentine poet Alejandra Pizarnik; a Wikipedia edit-a-thon and a workshop with Chicano muralist Mario Torero.

We continue to create more online accessibility to recordings from the Archive of Hispanic Literature on Tape and to recent acquisitions on and from Latin America through the Handbook of Latin American Studies, with volume 73 published and 74 on the way.

In 2019, the Hispanic Division also celebrated the impressive career and retirement of Juan Manuel Peréz (July), while welcoming Liliana Lopez (September) Dani Thurber (January).

We look forward to expanding our efforts and continue connecting users, creators, and learners with our treasures and resources. Please let us know if there is something you would like to see us prioritize in 2020 and stay tuned!

Many of our effort are possible thanks to generous support of the Huntington Endowment, for which we remain grateful, now 80 years after the establishment of the Hispanic Reading Room.