I was in Mexico City last week and it was great. Why was it great? Aside from having a completely transcendent taco experience I got to see some more Mexican libraries. Super good stuff:
The Biblioteca Amalia González Caballero in El Parque México.
The public library in San Miguel De Allende.
Biblioteca de México “José Vasconcelos”
The National Library has a project called “City of Books” which houses the personal collections of five Mexican authors. The spaces function as part archive, part research libraries, part tribute, and part all around amazing places to be. The building also has an amazing space for the visual impaired, an inspiring general use area and a popular area for kids.
Carlos Monsiváis liked cats. The art in his library reflected that.
Looks like cat hair. Totally gross.
From the collection of Jaime Garcia Terres.
Kids’ space.
A great room for meeting, talking, studying, reading, laptopping, etc… The lifted ceiling makes one feel as if they’re still outside.
Here’s the space for the visually impaired.
Tactile wayfinding.
The art in this room is audio. Press your ear against the wall to hear a soundscape.
Section for visually impaired children.
Okay, not libraries, but two museums. First,
the Museo Rufino Tamayo.
This wasn’t even an exhibit in
El Chopo. Just some amazing storage organization!
And in the bookstore: To read is a pleasure.
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I really love your post and I’m glad you had the time to visit some of our libraries. Just a little correction that I think it’s important to mention: what you have as Biblioteca Nacional de México is not our National Library, it is the “Biblioteca de México José Vasconcelos” a public library and in fact, the central library in our mexican public library system. It was remodeled a year ago and now it is also called “La ciudad de los libros” (Ciudad de los Libros). Interesting stuff you can find there. The Biblioteca Nacional (National Library of México) is at south of the city, inside what we call “Ciudad Universitaria” (University City) at the UNAM.