On your next trip to Guadalajara, you must visit some of the cultural centers that distinguish this beautiful city known as the Pearl of the West (La Perla de Occidente).
- Octavio Paz Ibero-American Library
It is a space located in the heart of Guadalajara, its construction was carried out at the end of the 16th century and was cemented by the Jesuits, who made it part of the Santo Tomás School, later it was joined to the Loreto chapel and by the 19th century. Its emblematic neoclassical entrance was built, which today continues to amaze with its beauty.
Inside you can see a mural called “Exaltation of work and Union of workers and peasants”, a work done by the painter from Guadalajara, Amado de la Cueva, who collaborated closely with Diego Rivera in the first half of the XX Century. Another important fact is that it was supervised by the iconic Mexican muralist, David Alfaro Siqueiros.
In 1985, the building was placed under the protection of the University of Guadalajara and was defined as a library, one of its directors was the writer Fernando del Paso. It currently has an important offer of texts on history, art, literature, and culture, it also has the newspaper collection “Edmundo Valdés”, made up of more than 180 titles.
- Juan José Arreola State Public Library
In the Belenes area, in Zapopan, the Library is located that bears the name of one of the most recognized Jalisco writers of the 20th century, Juan José Arreola. This site is part of the University Cultural Center of the UdeG and has one of the largest bibliographic collections in the State, it also has a significant amount of historical documents dating back 500 years that make it a site of interest for researchers.
Its architecture is one of the most modern in all of Jalisco and it is impossible to stop admiring it. It is ingeniously built with huge windows that reveal the heart of the library, it is adorned by 17 lines representing the indigenous languages that are still in force in the country, all this done by the hands of the architect Federico González Martínez, who named it Fachada de las indigenous languages.
Another of the treasures within this building is the collection of indigenous languages, which in 2007 was declared a Memory of the World by UNESCO and which includes interesting religious information from the period of the viceroyalty and up to the period of the 19th century.
- Public Library of the Mexican Army and Air Force
Since its birth, this building has undergone various names and turns, since in 1821 it was called the House of the Bell, since the San Pedro skillion, the main bell of the Guadalajara Cathedral, was cast there; Later it was a spiritual retreat house, it was also a gunpowder factory, which was closed shortly after a strong explosion that almost destroyed the facility.
In 1999 it was inaugurated as a library. It has a collection of 42 thousand 513 works that include collections of braille reading, audiovisual, multipurpose, video library, newspaper library, and map library.
- Museum of Journalism and Graphic Arts (MUPAG)
This place, also located in the heart of Guadalajara, is also known as the House of Dogs, named for the legends that revolve around the site. In the beginning, it served as the first printing press in Guadalajara, as it was there that the newspaper El Despertador Americano saw the light for the first time.
In their facilities they preserve and expose material related to journalism and the media, currently, it consists of four temporary rooms where exhibitions of photojournalism and graphic arts are appreciated, they also have a printing service, an auditorium, and a library specialized in graphic arts.
Proudly, Jalisco houses great literary works in buildings full of history, culture, and tradition. Get to know them, enjoy them and keep learning everything that is in them and in their creation. Before visiting them, check the sanitary standards established by these institutions.
Source: Informador
