Dear Jon:

Thanks for this wonderful description of the Tex/Mex chapter’s fabulous-sounding tour of libraries and archives in Mexico City!  I want to second the motion for a future ARLIS conference in Mexico City—with perhaps a side trip to the colonial cities and an overnight in San Miguel de Allende??  Congratulations to the sponsors  who supported this trip and the ARLIS members who organized it and attended!  I do wish I could have joined you.  The attached photo is wonderful too.

Fondly,

Joan

Dear colleagues,

Members of the ARLIS/NA Texas-Mexico chapter (and a group of welcome interlopers who are now card-carrying chapter members!) gathered in Mexico City this past week for our annual conference.  It proved to be a most memorable and invigorating experience, not only because of the sites, sounds, tastes, and smells of this incredible city, but due to the graciousness of the information professionals who welcomed us to their city and into their institutions.

Our troop of 15 attendees from throughout Canada (2 provinces), Mexico, and the U.S. (4 states) visited 7 libraries and archives, 9 museums, 1 university (of more than 340,000 students!), and 10 architectural sites of note – not to mention the many locales that folks visited independently. Over 4 days, we met more than 17 information professionals, 7 museum administrators or educators, and 3 conservators. That said, the numbers alone don’t do the experience justice. And of course, this says nothing about the food …

The conference planning team included Craig Bunch, Fernando Corona, Lauren Gottlieb-Miller, Joel Pelanne, Elizabeth Schaub, and myself. Each played a key role in the success of the event from start to finish. In particular, Mexico City native Fernando Corona was invaluable in shepherding our troop, serving as translator when necessary, making connections with new contacts, and opening doors to rich collections. We remain ever thankful and grateful to him.

While there we gathered for a fruitful round-table discussion and heard from Mexican colleagues from no less than 7 institutions (MUNAL, Museo Franz Mayer, Palacio de Bellas Artes, Biblioteca Miguel Lerdo de Tejada, Banamex, Fomento Cultural Banamex, and MUAC) about their current challenges and opportunities. We also learned about organizations in which they are engaged, including the Arts Section of AMBAC (Asociación Mexicana de Bibliotecarios), a fledgling consortial group of downtown libraries, and REBAM. We shared information about ARLIS/NA and ARLIS/NA Texas-Mexico, as well as ways to get involved in our organization and opportunities for conference attendance support. This was followed by a Pecha Kucha-style program on “Latin American Collections & Connections” moderated by Lauren Gottlieb-Miller that involved 4 diverse presentations by Susan Bissonnette, Gabrielle Reed, Shari Salisbury, and myself.

Among the chief objectives for the conference was to build closer ties with our Mexican counterparts. To this end, we’ve already received feedback from several Mexican colleagues who have expressed interest in joining both the chapter and the Society. We’ll be working with the Executive Board and the IRC to make this a reality in the near future. Additionally, we’ve been discussing the possibility of affiliating with select organizations to further strengthen connections.

We were fortunate to have the patronage of three generous sponsors: Howard Karno Books, Inc., Citibanamex, and Museo Nacional de Arte. We thank them for their vital support of this endeavor and their furthering of international relations.

Lastly, at our chapter business meeting we unanimously supported the notion that we make Mexico a destination for future chapter meetings at least once every 5 years to build on the foundation that this conference and previous IRC and IFLA events have established. Our hope and vision is that this will ultimately lead to an ARLIS/NA conference in Mexico in the not-too-distant future so that the rest of the Society can experience what we just did!

Regards,

Jon

Jon Evans

President, ARLIS/NA Texas-Mexico

Chief Librarian

Hirsch Library

Museum of Fine Arts, Houston

P: 713-639-7393

f: 713-639-7795

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www.mfah.org/visit/libraries

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