There is a profession that for a few years has been dedicated, very deservedly, one day of the year, specifically, on June 7, it is honored with its work that from my point of view is not known with total depth and much less with the range of edges that it has, and that, moreover, I think it is not given the great importance they have for the safeguarding and protection of documentary heritage of a nation, of a people, of a city, I mean the librarian; that person who organizes, classifies, catalogs collections of books in a library, whether public, or specialized, talks with the public, guides them, offers suggestions, looks for what the user needs so that they are pleased and can satisfy their needs for knowledge, research, in short …, I was far below the dissimilar functions they perform.

But if its mission is important, it is even more important to know why this day was chosen, especially because I am not so sure that it is known with all clarity, and fortunately on this date, in 1812, was born in Havana, a Cuban that eventually turned out to be an excellent intellectual, historian, journalist, lawyer and bibliographer, considered as the father of the Cuban bibliography, this figure is Antonio Bachiller y Morales.

For the people of Camagüey, this name is meaningful, because, after holding several degrees handed over to him by the University of Havana, in 1838, he obtained the degree of Attorney in Puerto Príncipe in front of the court authorized at the hearing of this town.

Martí described this man as: “Cuban gentleman, passionate American, exemplary chronicler, expert philologist, famous archaeologist, assiduous philosopher, kind teacher, fair lawyer, diligent writer and pride of Cuba”.

I think everyone will agree with me that dedicating one day of the year to such important workers and also in honor of this personality, besides the fact that it is also linked to our city, is something that make us very proud, so we applaud that it  was instituted in 1981, through the Decree No.86 by the revolutionary government.

I hope that this simple homage, and the meritorious congratulations reach, through my humble words, to those meticulous and sometimes silent men and women who daily put a grain of sand to the conservation and protection of our Cuban culture; happy day librarians.

Photo: taken from www.cadenagramonte.cu

Translated into English by Ashley Rodríguez Pérez