About the Hispanic Reading Room
The reading room, named after the Hispanic
Society in New York, was dedicated in 1939 to serve as a focal point
to orient and assist researchers who seek to avail themselves of the
immense opportunities afforded by Luso-Hispanic materials throughout
the Library
of Congress. The Hispanic Reading Room, as it is usually called, serves
as the primary access point for research relating to those parts of the
world encompassing the geographical areas of the Caribbean, Latin America,
and Iberia; the indigenous cultures of those areas; and peoples throughout
the world historically influenced by Luso-Hispanic heritage, including
Latinos in the U.S., and peoples of Portuguese or Spanish heritage in
Africa, Asia, and Oceania. In addition to a 4,000 volume reference collection,
including
a collection of CD-ROMs, there is the Archive of
Hispanic Literature on Tape. This is a unique audio collection of authors
reading passages from their
own
literature.
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