San Miguel de Allende

This website tells us that San Miguel de Allende is one of the most beautiful in the province of Guanajuato, full of history and tradition. It was founded out of a necessity to protect travelers between Zacatecas and the capital of what was then the kingdom of New Spain and the route to transport minerals, mostly silver. In about 1542 from a humble chapel and villa called Itzcuinapan, or “the place of the dogs”, a friar named Juan de San Miguel started a place for the local population and dedicated it to the archangel St. Michael. There were severe problems with water supply and that hardship coupled with an attack in 1551 caused the village to be abandoned after 15 inhabitants were killed.
Subsequently a Franciscan Friar named Bernardo Cossin and a local indigenous leader, Fernando de Tapia, rebuilt the location as a mission half way up the hills between the local springs. This is the modern location of the church of the Santa Escuela, which was established in the 18th century.
Later developments included the military prison built on the road to Zacatecas, and it was this privileged location that caused its rapid growth of beautiful houses and palaces as well as religious buildings, many of which can still be visited in what became San Miguel el Viejo, and then the neighborhood of the Santa Cruz Vieja. Throughout this evolution there was an effort made to respect the chessboard layout which helped the area grow in a measured and harmonious style and conserved the original style.
These include the Palacio Municipal (now regional museum) from 1736; the Casa del Mayorazgo de la Canal, late 18th C; the Casa del Inquisidor, 1780, headquarters of the Spanish Inquisition in New Spain; and many more which you can read about (in Spanish) at the following website.

San Miguel de Allende

Our Syllabus

Spanish spoken here

The most crucial line of reasoning about having collections in languages other than English is that public libraries serve their populations. We should only attempt to judge what they might like to read, not what they should read. Not supplying books in another language when there are users who wish to read in that language is as sensible as not supplying books about non-Christian religions because we decide our country would be better if everyone were Christian. Or not supplying books on vegetarianism because it is 'healthier' to follow a ‘balanced’ diet.
We supply access to information. Along the way we sometimes have opportunities to help our users develop skills that aid them in being able to acquire the same, but that is not our primary mission.
An important point that was not touched upon in this article is that most people prefer to read in their mother tongue. I consider myself fluent in Spanish, and I am a translator by profession, but I prefer to read mostly in English. I find reading Spanish novels much more work to really comprehend all the nuance; in English I rarely even have to think consciously about this.
I can and do read non-fiction in the original language, and certainly prefer original language to translation when I have the choice, but for recreational reading, for relaxation, I want to read in English.
A personal case in point, if you will indulge me, are my unsuccessful attempts to read Don Quijote. This quest has involved searching for a palatable translation as well as various original versions. Actually, I have read but not grasped it well enough to understand its significance. I attribute this to my lack of comprehension of Cerventes, Spanish and male bonding; in that order.
I also thought the comment by Denver Mayor Hickenlooper was thought provoking: "Libraries tend to be independent from direct government control so that the personal preferences, tastes, or political needs of politicians do not dictate the contents they contain," Do library acquisitions stay under the political radar of their communities? This would be an intriguing topic to investigate more fully
Finally, I think it’s kind of strange that we’re given ½ an article to read here. I remember reading this when it was published in AL and thinking that the poor person who had to write the English spoken here portion certainly had the short end of the stick, and she was lampooned in subsequent letters to the magazine.

Quesada, T. (2007, November). Spanish spoken here. American Libraries, 30(10), 40-44.

Religious Architecture

The religious architecture of San Miguel de Allende is also of utmost importance. The Convent of St Vincent, 1737, and the Convent of the Loyal Conception are two examples.
The chapel of the Holy Cross of the Spring and the Temple of the Third Order, two of the oldest, are both from the beginning of the 17th C. The beautiful buildings that compose the church and prayer site of St. Phillip Neri, from the beginning of the 18th C. has a exuberant Baroque portal that displays a strong indigenous influence. It houses the splendid chapel of the Holy House of St. Loreto, the antechamber of the holy mother, and the temple of Our Lady of Health.
The church of St. Francis, also 18th C., is really a symbol of the city itself. It was actually built over an earlier 17th C. temple keeping the original interior and dimensions.

Nearby is the Sanctuary of Atotonilco, which actually dates from the 16thC, and contains valuable paintings from that era.It is known as the Sistine Chapel of the Americas and was declared a UNESCO World Heritage Site this July



San Miguel de Allende