Private libraries turn page in Cuba: Book lenders offer variety, draw scorn of Castro regime--[Excerpt] The government, while dismissing the collections as "neither libraries nor independent," has for the most part left them alone, though some of their directors have faced persistent harassment.
The founders of the independent library movement, Berta Mexidor Vazquez and her husband, Ramon Humberto Colas, immigrated to Miami in December after losing their jobs and their home, and seeing their daughter removed from her school.
Other independent library heads say they have been jailed briefly or had security agents search their collections…..
…That's not to say that at least some of the same things aren't available at Cuba's expansive network of state libraries. The National Library in Havana has 4 million titles, and while most are dated--one of the "International Who's Who" copies is from 1995--the big wooden card catalog is full of authors considered controversial in Cuba, from Mario Vargas Llosa to George Orwell.
Critics point out that such books are not available to all patrons, whose type of library card depends on their jobs or other affiliations, and that most Cubans would hesitate to go on record asking for controversial titles.
Most of the library's books are in closed stacks. Patrons must ask for them by filling out a form with their own name and the title, which is then handed over to librarians. [End Excerpt]