Public Libraries, Modern Nations

This chapter mentions the Liberators that took time out from their military campaigns to attend to the creation of major public libraries during the wars of independence between 1808 and 1826. It describes the libraries as one of the first institutions to be founded that were located close to the centre of political power in the cities. It also discusses individuals of varied political views that saw libraries as both symbol and source of universal enlightenment, noting General José de San Martín, who declared libraries to be more powerful than armies for protecting the embryonic political communities. The chapter refers to Simón Bolívar, who instigated a public library in Caracas in 1814 and intervened to ensure that Lima's library was restored in 1823 and 1824. It elaborates how libraries fulfilled a central role in social self definition as touchstones of what was meant by lo público and lo nacional.