To have a book is to have a treasure

What makes books so magical and captivating? How is it that reading is so powerful, and allows us to take the most special journey without moving from the couch? Many say that after the dog, the book is man’s best friend. That may be true, don’t you think? At least that is what my interviewee today, María del Carmen Martín Marichal, defends.

She is the director of the Library of the University of Las Palmas de Gran Canaria or ULPGC, the most important one on the island of Gran Canaria. She will tell us exactly what she does as a director, the importance of libraries, the technological advances that have affected her library and the very innovative projects she has been involved in, among many other interesting things. But first, we have to go back in time to the year in which the library was born.

When was the ULPG Library founded and how long have you been its director?

The library, as the Library of the University of Las Palmas de Gran Canaria (ULPGC), is a service offered by our university since its birth, back in 1989, but I have been in my position as director for about a decade.

And what motivated you to devote your personal career to the world of libraries and books? Do you think your career is vocational?

I discovered the world of libraries through a collaborative scholarship while I was doing my degree. Then, I was hired to start a library and, it was because of that, that I decided to devote myself to this amazing world. I prepared my exams and accessed the ULPGC’s Library on the lowest scale. From there, and after passing the required selective tests, I went through each and every position until I got to be the director. I work on something I truly like and am passionate about, so yes, my career is vocational.

Your routine must be really interesting if you truly like your job, like you said. How is your typical routine at the library and what tasks do you carry out as the director?

The day-to-day life in the library is very entertaining and complex, but, for me, completely exciting. The Statutes of the ULPGC establish that the university library depends directly on the Rector, which is not usual, or rather exceptional, in Spanish universities. This means I have the direct authority on behalf of the university, which gives maximum value and recognition to our library as one of the key services of our university. 

Some of the functions that the library regulations assign to the library’s management board, and which therefore correspond to me, are the following:

• Plan, manage, control and evaluate the activity of the University’s Library
• Prepare the University’s Library program, including its facilities, equipment and staffing
• To promote the external relations of the University’s Library in order to strengthen its image, participating in innovation and development projects

You mentioned that you participate in development projects. What would you say is the most exciting one you have been involved in as director of the ULPGC Library?

All of the projects I’ve taken part in have been and are immensely exciting. The creation of different portals, as well as the design of the spaces that we currently offer at our library (despite the enormous and tiring work involved), has been very gratifying. Within these spaces, the Makerspace and “Espacio Violeta” are two of our star projects, particularly the latter which, only two years since its creation, has been awarded and recognized publicly by the Ministry of Culture through the Council for Library Cooperation.

That sounds really interesting! Could you tell us a little bit more about that project named “Espacio Violeta” (Violet Space)?

The Espacio Violeta is a literary fund specialized in feminism and gender studies and, in addition, a different space for consultation, a meeting point and exchange of knowledge about women, egalitarian masculinities and the LGTBQ+ community created by our library. It has been quite a journey since it was founded in 2018, but with all projects comes a lot of uncertainty and difficulties.

Would you say then that it has been the greatest challenge to date in your job? What has been the greatest achievement or milestone during your career?

The biggest challenge has been and still is to strive to maintain and grow the budget allocated to the library, as well as to get the most out of it. The library is systematically the service most valued by our university’s community.  Maintaining that level is always a challenge and also an achievement. Helping our digital portals grow, the creation of the Makerspace and Espacio Violeta, perhaps, could be some of our greatest achievements. 

In relation to those digital portals you just mentioned, what do you think is the most important evolution in terms of technology since the Library opened? 

I am sure that a large part of the population, when they think of a library, thinks of tables, chairs, shelves, books, magazines, newspapers and silence in order to study properly. However, libraries (particularly university libraries), have been much more than that for many years. In addition to offering all of the above, our library offers much more, which defines us as a resource center for learning and research. 

In terms of technology, I can guarantee you that the electronic library plays a significant role in the services provided by our library. The subscription to electronic resources (books, magazines, databases) makes up 87% of the budget of the ULPGC’s Library. The electronic library already has a very important role, the spaces and equipment we offer are fundamental and the library staff is essential for the organization, dissemination and access to information.

You are truly in love with your job! What do you enjoy most about your career, and what do you enjoy least?

What I like the most? I would say working on how to improve and expand all the services we offer from our library, in the design of new digitalization and dissemination projects, etc. All of this through collaborative work, which is essential for the success of any project.

What I like the least is the wear and tear that comes with making people understand, year after year, that the library is much more than a bunch of chairs, tables, books, shelves and silence, particularly when there are changes in the management team.

Well, it seems that people don’t really appreciate the library’s essence… How would you like the local community to remember it?

As the essential service that is focused on facilitating teaching, research and collaboration in the creation of knowledge. In addition, it is a service concerned with preserving and disseminating the documentary heritage of the Canary Islands and offering spaces that serve as a meeting and debate point open to the university community and society in general. 

It is nice to see that the library is a place to enjoy reading and debate. But don’t you think the love for reading is being lost? If so, what do you think the reasons are?

No, I don’t think the love for reading is being lost, although I do think this habit should be encouraged more within the family. I have read or heard that technology or the Internet are responsible for the fact that the reading habit doesn’t grow. However, I believe that the important thing is to read, regardless of whether we do it through a paper book, an e-book reader, a tablet or a smartphone. Reading not only educates us, but also makes us grow and live thousands of lives through books.

You said that the reading habit isn’t growing. How would you motivate young people to catch up reading or read more?

Hmm… if someone had the answer to that question the number of young readers would have increased enormously (chuckles). I believe that there are many initiatives in this direction that are worked on both in schools and public libraries. 

Our library has had a book club for almost 10 years now, since my arrival to the directive board. The club has its own blog. Through it, and without revealing the next reading’s title for the members, we throw clues about it so our followers can investigate and try to find out what the reading is about. This always generates a lot of expectation and is a strategy to attract the reading of the proposed work. 

Last but not least, I want to know how you would picture your life without books in it. 

Well, just as I can’t understand life without music, I can’t conceive it without books neither. Reading allows us to learn and grow as people, it leads us to live a million lives, to imagine them as we believe their author has imagined them, to feel the passion, the joy or the sadness that it transmits…

From now on, remember that when you’re holding a book, you have a journey in your hands, and that the library can be the best means of transport, not the most boring!

The library is inhabited by spirits that come out of the pages at night

Isabel Allende