With the presence of the outstanding intellectual Graziella Pogolotti, Graziella Pogolotti, Doctor in Philosophy, who is the director of the Alejo Carpentier Foundation, this April 22nd, the reopening of the library of the Casa de Cultura de Plaza de la Revolución will take place, after a major restoration.

As a result of a strategic alliance between the Alejo Carpentier Foundation and the Plaza's Culture Division, from now on the library at Calzada y 8, of the former Lyceum and Lawn Tennis Club, will bear the name of the 1977 Cervantes Prize winner.

The library will house, on loan, the personal collection of the author of El reino de este mundo and his widow Lilian Esteban. This collection has also been enlarged with copies from foreign publishers managed by Pogolotti, the current executor of the intellectual's estate.

The reopening of the library is part of the activities of the Havana International Book Fair and comes ahead of the commemoration of the 42nd anniversary of the death of the author of The Age of Enlightenment.

According to Harold Vergara, director of Culture at the Board of Directors of Plaza de la Revolución, the library will contribute to the revitalization of reading among the new generations of Cuba, based on the use of games and innovative educational methods.

In addition, the institution plans to organize conferences, talks and master classes.

The reopening of this center is also dedicated to the 80th anniversary of the first free public library in El Vedado and in Cuba, and as part of the 20th anniversary of the National Council of Cultural Centers.

Important facts

The library at Calzada y 8, which opened its doors on May 19, 1942, was the first free public library in El Vedado and in the largest archipelago of the Antilles.

In 1944, the first Youth Library in Cuba was created there. In addition to fulfilling its function of promoting and stimulating reading, the library held talks and discussions, which were sometimes illustrated with plays and film screenings.