Just Imagine ~~ A Year in Honduras with Alice Spitzer by Mark Jacobs Photos courtesy of Alice Spitzer & Mike Owen	Alice Spitzer and Mike Owen with Alice's colleague, Orfylia Pinel. Click Here For More Photos
Just imagine! Almost an entire year in a Latin American country enjoying the tropical climate, the beautiful seashores, and fabulous rain forests; not to mention the unusual animals and exotic people. Plus, a chance to get away from the hustle and bustle and other urban pressures of Pullman. Sounds terrific, huh? Washington State University (WSU) librarian Alice Spitzer had an experience much like that in Honduras between August 2001 and May 2002. Well, sort of. The thing is, it really wasn't a vacation. Spitzer worked very hard during her stay in this Central American country and was a tremendous ambassador for WSU and librarianship. She made many contributions to the library of the Universidad Nacional Autonoma de Honduras (UNAH), or, National University of Honduras; and to other libraries in the republic as well. Along the way, she met some memorable people, witnessed the democratic process Honduras-style, and enjoyed some great sights. Spitzer was on sabbatical from the WSU libraries in Honduras with an appointment to the UNAH graduate school to undertake several projects she had developed with Honduran National University Librarian, Orfylia Pinel. She acted as a consultant and helped Pinel design and create a model graduate department library for the university's patrons. The library at UNAH has a collection numbering about 200,000 items (mostly monographs) and is relatively low-tech by U. S. standards. Its buildings are 1950s-style concrete and glass structures that contain old metal furniture; and metal and wood shelving. The collection in the main building is Dewey-classified, but in the 33 branch libraries on campus the materials are organized in broad subject arrangements often with no classification. This is the situation Spitzer found in the Astronomy Library where she primarily worked during her UNAH tenure. In collaboration with Pinel, she helped develop and implement an electronic catalog of the Astronomy Library's information resources using UNESCO's MicroCDS/ISIS integrated library system (ILS) software; cataloged and classified the library's monograph and serials collections; and developed and implemented policies and procedures to govern reference, circulation, and collection development activities in the library. This model will be used to organize and provide access to collections in the various branches of the UNAH library system in the months and years to come. Spitzer repeated the project for the library of the Centro de Diseno, Arquitectura y Construccion where her husband, WSU architecture professor Mike Owen, taught and did research under the aegis of a Fulbright award. Spitzer also assisted the National Agricultural Information Network (NAIN) in its efforts to facilitate cooperation between the various libraries in the country that hold agricultural publications. This included training sessions on controlled vocabularies such as AGROVOC and user education issues. While there, Spitzer had many opportunities to enjoy Honduras and its people. Tegucipalpa, the Honduran capitol has a population of over 500,000 and is a modern Central American city with a strong public transportation system. It is a very hilly city and has lots of automobile traffic. It has a central business district with many large buildings (dominated by the offices of the national government and Honduran commerce centers), museums, and theaters. Most of the shopping in the city is located in areas that have sprung up around individual neighborhoods; among them, some American businesses, especially fast food restaurants. Spitzer commented that she always felt secure in Tegucigalpa. The city has a dedicated and well-disciplined police force, but, as is the case in most of the world's cities, there are some areas it is a good idea to avoid because of gang activity. Not to worry, though! Hondurans enjoy a democratic government with executive, judicial, and legislative branches; and two major political parties. While Spitzer was there, a national election was held. The result was the election to the presidency of liberal economist Ricardo Maduro on a platform of economic development and crime prevention. Spitzer has many happy memories from her time in Honduras, but especially enjoyed the opportunity to work with and get to know many new colleagues in the library and in the university community. She also formed friendships with some of the country's Peace Corps volunteers, including a WSU graduate she first met at Holland Library. One of her favorite memories is of her visit to Copan, a Mayan temple site (built in 63 AD) near the border with El Salvador. There she explored the ruins, marveled at the statuary, and visited a museum dedicated to the ancient Mayan culture. During this trip into a very isolated and sparsely populated part of the country, Spitzer was entertained and amazed by the wide variety of boisterous and colorful birds living there. Since she was in Honduras on 11 September 2001, I asked Spitzer to comment on her experience in a foreign country at that very painful and tragic moment for U. S. citizens. She recalled strangers on the streets of Tegucigalpa who recognized her as a U. S. citizen and came up to her to offer their heartfelt sympathies. As Spitzer noted, it was a sad moment for them as well for many Honduran nationals perished in the World Trade Center towers that terrible day. Alice Spitzer has returned to us with a wealth of memories and new experiences, knowledge, and skills. An expression that is used a lot in Honduras, according to Spitzer, is cheque, which means "OK" or "agreed." To the statements that, 1) she has contributed to the international development of libraries and the library profession and, 2) that we are glad to have her back at WSU, I think we can all say, "Cheque!"
Photo Gallery 10 photos
Exterior of new public library in Yuscaran
Interior of Yuscaran public library
Alice's colleagues at the National University Library celebrating her birthday in 2001.
Alice's colleagues at the National University Library, Maria Luisa Sanchez and Orfylia Pinel.
Alice's sewing group
Alice in the town center with Pullman visitors Bonnie Frederick (now of Ft. Worth, TX) and Jim Mitchell
Diana Espinal, librarian-in-training at Mike's university
Honduran students making "alfombras" (carpets) of colored sawdust for the Easter celebrations
Mike and Alice's apartment building
View from Mike and Alice's apartment building