Bibliophiles Highlight Their Contributions as They Celebrate their 40th Anniversary

Bibliophiles Highlight Their Contributions as They Celebrate their 40th Anniversary
Santo Domingo, December 10, 2013

The president of the Dominican Society of Bibliophiles (SDB – Sociedad Dominicana de Bibliófilos) indicated that this is the only organization in the country that is dedicated to re-editing the main works of national classical literature that are out of print, and that it has the only library in the region specializing in Caribbean themes, with an inventory of over 15,000 volumes.

As the SDB celebrates its 40th anniversary, Mr. Mariano Mella underscored the achievements and the most significant contributions of this cultural institution.

Among them he mentioned one of the few unique cultural events of its kind in the continent, the Fair of Rare and Antique Books, which each year showcases works that are over 700 years old, miniature books, and books with other peculiarities, displaying true literary jewels.

Mella explained that the first president of the SDB was Enrique Apolinar Henríquez, during the period 1973-1977, and that the library was named in his memory. Other prominent intellectuals who have led this institution are: Gustavo Tavares, Frank Moya Pons, Juan Tomás Hernández Kelmer, Bernardo Vega, José Chez Checo, and Juan Daniel Balcácer.

“It is a source of great satisfaction to reach four decades of existence, being a non-profit organization, with the objective of promoting, preserving, and disseminating the Dominican literature and culture,” the President of the SDB stated.

“The cultural effort of this institution is not limited to the dissemination of the works, but also to keep running the Enrique Apolinar Henríquez Library, which was founded in 1978, as it has an extensive collection of books on the Dominican Republic and the Caribbean.”

This library has become an important resource for researchers, writers, and for the domestic and foreign scholars who visit it.

Among its key objectives are the recovery, conservation, updating, and dissemination of bibliographic materials such as books, brochures, booklets, pamphlets, official publications, reference works, and periodicals.

In addition to Mr. Mella, the Board of the institution consists of Dennis R. Simó, Vice President; Bernardo Vega, Treasurer; Juan De La Rosa, Vice Treasurer; José Felipe Chez Checo, Secretary; Sócrates Olivo, Assistant Secretary; Juan Tomas Tavares K., Auditor; and, Antonio Morel, Deputy Auditor.

Other Board members are Frank Moya Pons, Juan Daniel Balcácer, Eugenio Pérez Montás, Eleanor Grimaldi  Silié, and María Filomena González.