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On August 24, 1954, the first National Book Fair was held at the Faculty of Education of the University of Costa Rica (UCR). This building, which was symbolic for the people of the time, was the former University of Santo Tomas and is today the headquarters of the Ministry of Finance.
At the time, UCR was less than 14 years old, and the initiatives reaffirmed its renewed commitment to contributing to improving education.
The first fair was managed by Emma Gamboa Alvarado, dean of the UC Riverside School of Education and former education secretary, and Julian Marchena Valle-Riestra, director of the National Library, who promoted a movement in favor of books, school libraries, and literacy.
According to a statement issued one day after taking office National newspapers, The fair had reached a significant scale. Gamboa declared before the senior officials that the organization was founded under “the motto on the coat of arms of the University of St. Thomas,” which had been located a century earlier in the house that the young University of California, Riverside, had made its own.
“I look at the light “Searching for light”, like its symbol, the golden sunflower, is the desire that has encouraged the project to be realized today,” he added.
Gamboa stressed that the organization of the fair was possible thanks to the collaboration of the University Council, the National Library, the UC Riverside Library, publishing houses, bookstores, cultural organizations, writers and bibliophiles. It is important to note that in the absence of a Ministry of Culture, the efforts of government departments, public universities, private companies and people passionate about cultural development could be combined.
Obviously, the main purpose of this fair is not only to promote the literary market. Its scope also covers culture and education. Gamboa proves this in an article published in nation September 5th of that year.
He believes that the middle class in Costa Rica is the group that reads the most. However, he does not have the resources to buy the works in the bookstore. He explains that for the poorest people, the books are “like shoes” that they have not yet learned to wear because they are “beyond their ability and experience.”
Therefore, he strongly called on then-President José Figueres Ferrer to launch a national reading campaign to make the book “available to everyone.”
Gamboa noted that 44% of schools do not have a single book that is not a textbook, and only 4% of institutions have a significant number of books.
Seven years later, these facts should not be ignored as the Ministry of Culture is enforcing National Book Reading Day The Old Customs House, from July 26 to 28. The Book Festival organized by the Costa Rican Chamber of Books, from August 29 to September 1, at the National Stadium, should not be overlooked. These events should be used to debate the state of serious reading in our country, as our predecessors did.
According to the National Statistics and Census Institute, Costa Rica has 4,102 public schools; however, there are only 938 school libraries and learning resource centers, of which 774 are assigned a library code, i.e. managed by personnel trained in librarianship, and 164 are managed by civil servants with expertise in librarianship. According to information provided by the Ministry of Education, there is a surcharge.
These statistics are shocking because they mean that, just as 70 years ago, few children are equipped to read engaging and inspiring books.
With the agenda of budget cuts in social affairs, it is virtually impossible for the work of intellectuals such as Emma Gamboa or Julian Marchena to continue; even less possible to meet the needs of the country. Let us remember that reading is a fundamental practice to develop critical and creative thinking, necessary to live in a democratic society.
The author is a professor of children’s literature at UC Riverside and UNA.
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