The Secret to our Growth ...

Not too long ago, Prof. Sarah Aponte found a plastic bag carefully placed at the front door of the CUNY Dominican Studies Institute Archives and Library. Neither a name nor a note accompanied the bag. After inquiring among the Institute’s personnel, the Chief Librarian decided to open it, as Chief Archivist, Don Idilio Gracia Peña, and other members of their staff watched with anxious intrigue. Voilà! As Prof. Aponte cautiously pulled at the bag, a pile of carefully organized books began to appear, “como por arte de magia.” The mysterious donor had left a precious collection of books, among them the 7 volumes of Colección pensamiento político (1986-1990) by José Francisco Peña Gómez. Pensamiento político was held then at 10 libraries in the U.S., increasing to 11 when the book was catalogued and registered in the World Catalogue by CUNY DSI.

 

A few days ago, CUNY DSI Director, Dr. Ramona Hernandez, received an email in Spanish from an unfamiliar name: Maribelle Vazquez. Ms. Vazquez mentioned being part of the Institute’s mailing list and wanted to know whether we had a copy of Juan Bosch: El comienzo de la historia (1990), a book she had rescued from a shelf located in the lobby of her building, where residents leave unwanted items for others to take, if interested. Since the book was not in the best conditions, Ms. Vazquez offered to carefully clean it and mail it to us. Dr. Hernandez immediately contacted Chief Librarian Aponte to inquire about the book. The Chief Librarian wrote back confirming that we did not own a copy of the book, a message the Director then relayed to the thoughtful donor. Interestingly, 33 libraries in the U.S. have a copy of this book, including the New York Public Library and Columbia University. Until this week, the City University of New York, however, did not own a single copy. Written by journalist Victor Grimaldi and out of print today, this book represents an immense gift to our library. Grimaldi knew Bosch personally and had the honor of interviewing him, an experience that likely contributed considerably to his undertaking of this project. In 2011, Mr. Grimaldi’s contribution to Dominican literature was recognized by the 14^th Directorate General of the International Book Festival of Santo Domingo and Ministry of Culture with the inauguration of a street in his honor.
 

These stories help to dissipate the myth that some groups are prompt to give while others are not. The trajectory of the Dominican Library attests to the generosity of people who, as Maribelle Vazquez, have demonstrated an interest in the preservation of the history of the Dominican people. Originally just an idea of a young student at City College -today converted into Chief Librarian- the Dominican Library has grown into a unique, state of the art facility with no equal in the United States. The key to the Library’s birth and growth is donations. In the beginning, Prof. Aponte persuaded people to donate their Dominican library items. Today, people continue this practice of donating their Dominican materials, though rather than simply collecting goods from their homes, they also collect Dominican materials from everywhere and everyone.  The practice reflects a culture. And that is the secret to our growth.  We have built our catalogue exclusively from donated materials, which have reached us sometimes in very creative ways, reflecting exactly the diversity of people and the many ways in which they show they care. These gifts come sometimes from the hands of the most notable and prestigious Dominican people, while in other cases, they come in the manner described above. As long as this culture remains, the Dominican Library will continue to exist and grow because its future rests upon the will and the action of people who care.

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Mariela Pichardo came to CUNY DSI in 2019 as a Summer Intern from Brown University. Upon graduating in 2020, she joined the Institute as a research assistant, as she prepares to pursue graduate studies on the relationship between the People’s Republic of China and the Dominican Republic.