Cuba

A Glimpse At First Amendement Issues in School Libraries

StephenK — Fri, 06 Feb 2009 16:40:19 -0500

UCLA law professor and freedom of speech scholar Eugene Volokh recently posted at his legal group blog, the Volokh Conspiracy, a post about a school libraries matter. The post, What May a School Board Do When It Concludes an Elementary School Library Book Omits Important Information?, takes a look at a recent case in the United States Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit. An opinion has been released in the matter.

Librarians and Bibliophiles Cuba Tour

Anonymous Patron — Mon, 24 Nov 2008 01:03:04 -0500

We've just launched the website for the official "Librarians and Bibliophiles Havana Book Fair Tour" in Cuba from Saturday 14 to Saturday 21 February 2009.

It takes place during the 18th Havana International Book Fair where dozens of countries and scores of publishers exhibit their works.

It's a rare opportunity for professionals in library sciences, booksellers, educators and book lovers in general to get an unprecedented look into issues of freedom of expression directly from Cuban intellectuals, writers, librarians, publishers and curators.

If you're an American and your work involves any aspect of books, writing, publishing or education, you can join this program and visit the island legally. And we're glad to assist with your travel license.

The eight-day tour is chock-full of incredible activities. Tour participants are treated as honored guests while in Cuba and, in addition to spending significant time at the book fair they will:

* Visit museums, cultural and historical sites, libraries, publishing houses and attend special ceremonies

* Relish the island's best food, entertainment (including dance lessons), all in the five star comfort of the famed Hotel Habana Libre

* Take part in a special community sponsored block party for librarians and bibliophiles

* Meet with members of the Union of Cuban Artists and Writers (UNEAC), professors, library directors, publishing chiefs, and many other key literary personalities

* Tour the Museum of Literacy dedicated to the 380,000 young women and men who volunteered to teach reading and writing to their island compatriots in 1961

* Visit the famed hand made book publisher Ediciones Vigia in the city of Matanzas

* Spend a day on the wondrous white sand beaches and warm Caribbean waters of famed Varadero

* Our website details costs, flights, and an elaborate hour-by-hour itinerary that is amazing to view, even if you can't join us this year. Check it out at:

http://CubanAdventures.org

It's packed with photos and information on Cuba, Book Fair resources, and trip details and costs (so it is a little slow opening).

You can help increase awareness about Cuba by sharing this announcement with your friends and colleagues. We'd be grateful. Cuba Education Tours is a Vancouver Canada based organization dedicated to green, ethical travel that benefits Cubans and our guests who receive five star treatment round-the-clock from our Cuban and Canadian staff ensures worry free travel abroad.

Hoping to meet you in February 2009 at the 18th Havana International Book Fair.

All my best,
Marcel Hatch
Education Director
708 - 207 West Hastings Street
Vancouver, BC V6B 1H7 Canada

info@cubafriends.ca Email

877-687-3817 Toll Free North America
604-677-2944 Vancouver and International
604-874-9041 Facsimile

http://CubaFriends.com Many more Cuba culture and education tours

* B.C. Travelers Assurance Fund Registration No. 34338
* Association of Canadian Travel Agencies (ACTA) No. 11338
* IATA Travel Industry Designator Service (TIDS) No. 96520852
* Communications, Energy and Paper Workers Union, CEP Local 2000, Unit 46
* Member: Canadian Network on Cuba (CNC)
* VanCity Credit Union Socially Responsible Banking member
* Official travel agency for the World Peace Forum Society 2006 Vancouver
________________________________________________

One of the Biggest Sinners to Play in Sin City

Bibliofuture — Fri, 22 Feb 2008 01:24:03 -0500

Jose Manuel Vigoa Perez, one of thousands of refugees who fled Cuba on the Mariel boatlift, arrived in Las Vegas on a blistering hot afternoon in July 1980. The bright lights and the hectic atmosphere came as a shock. “I felt like I had walked through a time tunnel and was in another world and dimension,” he later recalled.

The feeling passed. In time Mr. Vigoa was terrorizing the Strip, leading his own commando team in a series of brazen attacks on armored cars and, in his final caper, robbing the main cashier’s desk at the Bellagio. His reign of terror in 1999 and 2000 is the subject of “Storming Las Vegas,” John Huddy’s lurid, foot-to-the-floor account of the life and career of the master criminal the Las Vegas police code-named Tony Montana, after the character played by Al Pacino in “Scarface.”

Full article in the New York Times.

Anthony Lewis Urges ALA Not to Ignore Jailed Librarians

Walter — Sun, 27 Jan 2008 20:36:35 -0500

Now anyone can hear just what famed-author, Anthony Lewis, said at his speech for a Freedom to Read fundraiser at the ALA Convention in Philly. His remarks begin at minute 34:40 on this podcast http://feeds.feedburner.com/%7Er/NCCPrograms/%7E3/221187849/anthony_lewis_01_14_08%2864%29.m... from the National Constitution Center.

"I'm going to do something which I'm not entitled to do, but I'm going to raise it because I promised I would. There is an issue that has engaged some people. I don't know if they are in this room or not, maybe a few are, and that is the fate of some private librarians in Cuba who have been imprisoned by the Cuban government.

I just urge you not to take that lightly. I think there can't be anything worse than putting librarians in prison because of their being librarians and giving people books to read. So please don't ignore the issue.

That's from my point of view, even if you don't like the librarians or you don't like Cuba or whatever it is you don't like, its "freedom for the thought that we hate." Please think about it."

Moderator: "How could we not like librarians?"

Library responds to accusations that Human Rights Film Festival distorts conditions in Cuba

Blake — Wed, 23 May 2007 16:38:00 -0400

I'm sure I don't need to tell you who sent in this Princeton Packet article. The Princeton Public Library has inadvertently set off a firestorm of criticism involving Cuba, health care and human rights.
According to some critics, two of the 15 films shown during the library's annual Human Rights Film Festival last weekend are "propaganda" and do not accurately reflect life in Cuba.
"I think it's outrageous to have a film festival at a public library that leaves out all the realities of Cuba, especially when you have thousands of witnesses to the human rights violations," said Maria C. Werlau, executive director of Cuba Archive, an organization that collects information about the country.

Nat Hentoff's Second Column on ALA and Cuba

Bibliofuture — Mon, 05 Mar 2007 17:27:00 -0500

Steve Fesenmaier writes "Although the American Library Association proclaims its commitment to the "Freedom to Read" everywhere, its leadership abandons Cuba's independent librarians whom Fidel Castro had locked into his gulags, under brutal conditions, because of their courageous insistence that the people of Cuba should also have the freedom to read books the dictatorship has banned. A majority of the ALA's rank-and-file members disagree with their leadership.
To read the complete story — http://www.washtimes.com/op-ed/20070304-093224-913 9r.htm"

Hentoff Urges "Read a Burned Book"

Rochelle — Sat, 03 Mar 2007 16:17:00 -0500

Author and cultural commentator Nat Hentoff writes about FREADOM's Read a Burned Book campaign in this week's Jewish World Review. Writing about Cuba's persecuted independent librarians, Hentoff says:

From kangaroo-court records I have seen, when independent librarians are sent to the gulags, certain confiscated books--and sometimes all books in their libraries--are ordered incinerated by the presiding judge. A biography of Martin Luther King was sent to the flames because, said the judge, it "is based on ideas that could be used to promote social disorder and civil disobedience." And the nonviolent King's own books have been burned.

Library activists encourage reading Cuban books

Blake — Sat, 17 Feb 2007 04:24:00 -0500

Steve Fesenmaier writes "Spurred by events in South Florida, a national group is urging students to read books that have been burned in Cuba.

The organization, FREADOM, launched the project last month to bring attention to documents and books, such as the United Nations' Universal Declaration of Human Rights and George Orwell's Animal Farm, that the Cuban government has banned and set afire. The project is a takeoff on campaigns encouraging people to read banned books.

"Banning a book is the intent to kill," said Walter Skold, co-chairman of FREADOM, a group of librarians, authors and human rights activists. "Burning it is the crime of murder."

Here's The Story"

Amnesty: Cuban harassment of libraries continues

Blake — Thu, 01 Feb 2007 19:06:00 -0500

Steve Marquardt writes "A Press release on the severe restrictions on freedom of expression and association affect thousands of people across Cuba.

In Cuba, all print and broadcast media are under state control. Also, access to the internet is severely limited outside governmental offices and educational institutions....

During 2006, there was a rise in the harassment and intimidation of independent journalists and librarians....

Prisoner of conscience, Julio Cesar Lopez Rodriguez, Vice President of the Frente Linea Dura and Director of an independent library, was arrested on 22 July 2005, whilst he tried to participate in a peaceful demonstration in front of the French Embassy. He has been campaigning for many years for political reform and the defence of human rights, and kept anti-totalitarian books in his library. He has been held without charge or trial...."

Librarians Injured by Mob

Blake — Thu, 02 Nov 2006 02:42:00 -0500

I'm sure you can guess who sent this one in: "On October 10 the Assembly to Promote a Civil Society (APSC), a dissident organization in Cuba, began a series of meetings at independent libraries. The Friends of Cuban Libraries have received reports of a major campaign launched by the Cuban government to prevent the APSC library meetings from taking place. Actions to block the meetings have included acts of violence. Photographs of injuries inflicted on two people who attended one of the library meetings have been published on the Internet.

See the Recent News section of our website for suggestions on how librarians can take action to protest this cruelty.