Bibliopolítica: A Digital History of the Chicano Studies Library

Bibliopolítica: A Digital History of the Chicano Studies Library

At the intersection of Chicana/o/x Studies, Digital Humanities and Library History, Bibliopolítica: A Digital History of the Chicano Studies Library chronicles the history of one of the first Chicana/o/x collections, the Chicano Studies Library at the University of California, Berkeley.

Bibliopolítica shares the stories of trailblazing library workers, students and community members who worked to preserve and make Chicana/o/x resources available. Featuring photographs, ephemera, archival documents, and oral histories, Bibliopolítica offers an original digital collection of primary sources and is the first audiovisual history of this special place that helped redefine what libraries could be.

Bibliopolítica takes its name from a book of the same title that Richard Chabrán and librarian colleague Francisco García-Ayvens published in 1984, BiblioPolítica: Chicano Perspectives on Library Service in the United States. In 2024, it remains one of the few titles dedicated to the discussion of Chicana/o/x librarianship. Bibliopolítica: a Digital History of the Chicano Studies Library adds to this important conversation, but it is only the beginning of a much needed longer and more detailed history of the Chicano Studies Library and the contributions of Chicana/o/x library workers.

You can explore the digital exhibit, listen to recorded oral histories, browse digitized archival items, or explore on your own path.

Co-curated by Amanda Belantara – Assistant Curator at New York University Libraries, Lillian Castillo-Speed – former Chicano Studies Library Coordinator, now Head Librarian of the Ethnic Studies Library at UC Berkeley, and Richard Chabrán – former Chicano Studies Library Coordinator, Team Leader Latino Digital Archive Group.

Digitization of archival items by Chrissy Huhn and UC Berkeley Library IT and Oral history recordings at Berkeley by Pablo Gonzalez and Angelica Garcia. See additional credits.

 


September 22: National Hispanic Heritage Month Celebration at UC Berkeley Library

Celebrate National Hispanic Heritage Month at the University of California-Berkeley’s Library!

The event will take place on Thursday, September 22 from 12 noon to 1:15 PDT/ 3 pm to 4:14 pm EDT.

The event is open and free to all with prior registration. Please first sign into your personal or institutional zoom accounts and then register.
http://ucberk.li/3sb

Speakers (in alphabetical order)
José Adrián Barragán-Álvarez
Curator, Latin Americana
The Bancroft Library, UC Berkeley

Lillian Castillo-Speed
Head Librarian at Ethnic Studies Library, UC Berkeley

José Montelongo
Maury A. Bromsen Curator of Latin American Books
John Carter Brown Library, Rhode Island

Moderator: Liladhar R. Pendse, Librarian for the Caribbean and Latin American Studies



Latinx Research Center (LRC) Faculty-Mentored Undergraduate Research Fellowship

 

Latinx Research Center (LRC) Faculty-Mentored Undergraduate Research Fellowship

LRC is excited to launch the LRC Faculty-Mentored Undergraduate Research Fellowship program, pairing outstanding faculty with outstanding undergraduate students to advance research in US Latinx Studies.

The LRC has been awarded $550K by the Office of Financial Aid & Scholarships for the next 5 years to support this program. Every year, eleven $10K awards will be made in the liberal arts, and across the professional schools and the museum, to support faculty-mentored undergraduate research fellows throughout a full year: two semesters and a summer. The first round of awards will begin as early as Spring 2022. However, research can also begin in the summer of 2022. The application period has been extended to February 16th. Awards for applications that met the original January 31st deadline will be announced on Monday, February 7th; awards for applications received by February 16th will be announced on February 23rd. The award jury will consist of senior humanities and social sciences professors and will be distributed equitably across disciplines.

Applications should be submitted by faculty, who will nominate an outstanding undergraduate student that has agreed to work with them. Faculty in earlier stages of their career will be favored, however, all faculty are encouraged to apply. Selected student fellows will receive the $10K award throughout the course of a year, and will work closely with their faculty mentor, assisting in research, and developing their research skills, critical thinking, and intellectual creativity. Student fellows and mentors will be expected to meet weekly or biweekly, and to discuss their research at the LRC at the end of the award cycle. As an outcome of this mentored research fellowship, under the guidance of their faculty mentors, students will develop their own honors or capstone thesis, art practice, or other projects.

To apply, please visit https://forms.gle/H4hy1oRJhm39G1KT9.

For questions, email latinxresearch@berkeley.edu.


Trial of Hispanic Life in America (Readex) Database(ends on March 15, 2022)

The library has opted for a thirty-day trial of Hispanic Life in America: a Readex Database. The trial is good through March 15, 2022.

The database trial can be accessed here after authenticating using either the VPN or proxy.

Readex provides the following information on the database:

This database covers three time periods: Series 1: 1704-1942 | Series 2: 1943-2009 | Series 3: 2010-today

  • Comprehensive coverage of the Hispanic American experience from the early 18th century to the present day
  • Sourced from more than 17,000 publications, including 700 Spanish-language newspapers and periodicals
  • An easy-to-use online resource—updated daily with new material—that illuminates centuries of Hispanic history, culture, and daily life.

Source: https://www.readex.com/products/hispanic-life-america#summary


Primary Sources: Hispanic American Newspapers, 1808-1980

The Library has acquired Readex’s Hispanic American Newspapers, 1808-1980, a collection of Spanish- and English-language newspapers printed in the U.S. during the 19th and 20th centuries. The papers are sourced from the “Recovering the U.S. Hispanic Literary Heritage Project,” a national research effort directed by Nicolás Kanellos, Brown Foundation Professor of Hispanic Studies at the University of Houston.

The resource can be cross-searched with other Readex historical newspaper series, including Early American Newspapers, Caribbean Newspapers, and African American Newspapers, 1827-1998.