The Brothers of Christian Instructions Haitian Library

History Collection of documetns (newspapers, fiction, non-fiction, valuable + pics) Budget + Institutional Support Number of visits Equipment and Services New accomplishments since 2012 Digitized documents Training (Florida and National Archives) Goals

HISTORY  The Brothers of Christian Instruction’s Haitian library, is the second oldest library in the country. It was founded in Port-au-Prince in 1912 exclusively particular for its own students.  It became a public library in  BHFIC operates on limited business hours due to lack of financial and human resources. Operations are Monday to Friday 9:00AM – 3:00PM. Our staff includes: an Executive Director, a Secreteray, a Technician in Digitization and an Office Clerk.  Ernest Dion, the founder of BHFIC, decided to begin the historical documentation of Haiti’s history on the people, their culture and legislation, geography, flora, rich religious history, education and medicine.  Library has numerous collections of rare newspapers from the 19 th century as well as the 20th and 21st centuries that can be accessed for research.

Collection of documents (1)  The BHFIC has nearly 10,000 documents. (this number does not include the newspapers that are over two hundred titles). The majority of the documents are about the pre- Columbian period, the Spanish occupation of Haiti ( ), relations with Santo Domingo, the heroic struggles, the general revolt with heroes like Dessalines, Christophe, Petion, the official reports on the American occupation ( ), complete collections of writers such as: Coriolan Ardouin, Thomas Madiou, Georges Corvington, Roger Gaillard, Leslie Manigat and many others.  For Haitian literature, the library has more than 1,200 works of fiction, La Ronde, Haiti Littéraire et Sociale.

Collection of documents(2)  It is important to note “Le Temps”, a magazine of years 1932 – 1940 printed in 15 strong volumes, real mines of literary texts, biographies of writers and various analysis.  Our volumes of Haitian legislation, including 63 codes and 200 volumes of the “Moniteur” attract particularly students, professional or private individual looking for a law, decree or notice of divorce.

Newpapers (1) 1)Haïti-Journal:1930 – 1970 (41 years) 2)L’Action Nationale:1936 – 1937 (2 ‘’) 3)L’Elan: 1935 (1 ‘’) 4)L’Essor: 1917 – 1927 (11 ‘’) 5)L’Humour : 1897 (1 ‘’) 6)L’Informateur haïtien: 1919 (1 ‘’) 7)L’Information: 1934 – 1935 (2 ‘’) 8)L’Opinion: 1935 – 1936 (2 ‘’) 9)L’Opinion nationale: 1861 – 1865; 1891 – 1893 (8 ‘’) 10)La Poste: 1922 – 1926 (5 ‘’) 11)La Presse: 1929 – 1931 (3 ‘’)

Newspapers (2) 12) La Vérité: 1886 – 1889 ( 4 years) 13) Le Courrier du Soir: 1919 – 1921 (3 ‘’) 14) Le Courrier haïtien: 1920 – 1922 (3 ‘’) 15) Le Lien: 1928 – 1931 (3 ‘’) 16) Le Matin : 1907 – 1984, 2004 – 2013 (87 ’’) 17) Le Mouvement: 1935 – 1941 (7 ‘’) 18) Le Nouvelliste: 1899 until now (exc.1914) ( 115 ‘’) 19) Le Papyrus: 1933 – 1936 (4 ‘’) 20) Le Soir: 1899 – 1908 ( 10 ‘’) 21) Le Télégraphe, gazette officielle : 1821 – 1839 (19 ‘’) 22) Le Temps: 1922 – 1932 (11 ‘’)

Collection Items Money/Currency: countless bank notes and coins (about two thousand) are stored in boxes. Many have no identificational documentation. Photographs: photos of former presidents, politicians and other historic personnalities of the Haiti. Collection of stamps: more than a thousand stamps are stored in boxes. Other/Misc.: there are artifacts such as; swords, arms, macaroon of former presidents which are valuable museums collections.

Budget  BHFIC has a budget of 1,000,000 (one million) gourdes per year. ( about $ us)  The budget consist of all capital expenditures of the library including: painting, boxes of paper, cartridges for printers and copier, water, telephone and internet subscription, antivirus for computers, equipment for cleaning, and unexpected (light bulbs or toilet repair, grilled fan to replace...), staff salaries and purchases of new books.  BHFIC’s budget in unable to cover all the costs. Funding remains a challenge for the library.

Help from other institutions Unibank: Since 1997, Unibank provides us with a monthly grant of 2,500 G. ($55 us). After the earthquake in 2010, the subvention increased to 4,000 gourdes. ($ 90 us). Fokal: In 1998, Fokal provided assistance in the amount of 60,000 G ($1.300 us) and after the earthquake of 2010, $ 10,000 to repair the library. In summer 2013, they paid the training in Florida for one of our employees. National Archives: In the summer 2013, the National Archives has agreed to pay for training for one of our employees. C3 Editions: Since 2013, “Editions C3 regularly” sends us their new published titles. Others: Authors and researchers bring us new titles that expand our holdings.

Library Usage Total visits: 960

Library Usage Total Visits: 1.227

Equipment and Services Equipment 3 desktops 1 laptop 1 small scanner (8.5’’ x 11’’) 1 photocopier 1 scanner for newspaper / big format (from dLOC) Services Consultation on site Photocopy Scan

New Accomplishments 1.Mail address : 2.BHFIC logo 3.Facebook page : BHFIC 4.Piece of furniture for the new books 5.New stands for books and newspapers 6.Register of grievances ( to know about researchers feelings) 7.Laminated members cards 8.Water for employees 9.Flower pots 10.New employee (Jan 2013) 11.Phone number ( ) 12. Office identified with the name of the library 13.Air conditioning in the Executive Director’s office 14.Security cameras 15.Fire extinguisher 16.New room for digitization

Digitized documents Small documents : 197 GB Books Les Bigailles:1901 Haïti Littéraire et scientifique : 1912 Haïti Littéraire et sociale: 1905 La Ronde:1898 Zobope:1944 Newpapers: 500 GB Haïti Journal: 5 years – from 1940 to 1945.

Employers’ training Florida summer 2011: Training on digitization in partnership with dLOC. Florida summer 2013: Training on Advanced topics, large format materials with dLOC. National Archives (Haïti) november 2013: In partership with dLOC, in the National Archives, we participate in a training based on digitization of big format.

Goals 1.Digitization Camera + Lamps Computer New employee Salary 2.New conference room Chairs (50) Table Projector White board Air conditioning Conference stand 3.Access to the database Ncomputing Separate computers 4.Fair that lasts one year 5.BHFIC on line

Equipment for digitization Reading room Pre- columbian stones

Money Swords Stamps

Marie-France GUILLAUME Executive Director , Rue du Centre Port-au-Prince / Haïti Tel.: P.B.: 1758 Facebook: BHFIC