About The Andrés Figueroa Cordero Memorial Library and Community Informatics Center

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2700 W. Haddon Ave.
Chicago, IL 60622

Dedicated in 1979 by the Puerto Rican national poet and revolutionary leader Juan Antonio Corretjer, the Andrés Figueroa Cordero Library has become a source for many Chicago-area students researching the Puerto Rican reality.

The Library, which houses nearly 3,000 volumes of books and documents (over 5,000 pieces of the collection are presently in storage due to space limitations) , is divided into three sections:

  • The Joan Nicklin Third World Collection — a special collection comprised of books on African American; Latin American, Women’s and Puerto Rican history and culture.
  • The Sala Albizu-Corretjer, a permanent display of rare historical objects, newspapers, photos, and books of the Puerto Rican experience with a focus on the Puerto Rican independence movement from the Grito de Lares to the present.
  • El Rinconcito del Niño – a children’s section of bilingual books for youngsters from newborns to 7-year-olds and serves as a space for reading and storytelling.

The PRCC’s vision of the Library is as the epicenter of all the information technology involving the PRCC’s direct and affiliate programs, as well as it’s community informatics partnership with the Graduate School of Library and Information Science (GSLIS) of the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. These projects range from: creating a digital catalog for the Library at Librarything, including its special and rare publications; planning for a digital archive documenting the PRCC’s work over the past 40 years; and the Library’s evolution into a full-fledged information, media and technology center.