Libraries - CRAI UPAEP

Karol Wojtyla Library

Central Campus

Dedicated to Karol Wojtyla

On Friday, September 23, 2011, the plaque of Karol Wojtyla - John Paul II was unveiled inside the Library of our university, which from that date has been named after the Saint, thus highlighting the work of his pontificate in promoting the dialogue of Faith and Culture.

We recall that "the pilgrim pope" chose as the destination of the first of his more than one hundred pastoral trips outside Italy, the city of Puebla de los Angeles, where he inaugurated the work of the third general conference of the Latin American Episcopate. His extraordinary intellectual capacity as a theologian, philosopher and mystic was reflected in various works, some written in his youth, such as Love and Responsibility. As Pontiff he published five books of a personal nature, and as Pastor and Teacher, fourteen encyclicals, fifteen apostolic exhortations, eleven apostolic constitutions (among which is Excorde Eclesiae on Catholic universities) and forty-five apostolic letters.

By his stature as a statesman, promoter of peace and unconditional defender of human dignity, John Paul II became the main reference for the hope of a better world among believers and non-believers.

Karol Josef Wojtyla was born in Wadowice, Poland, on May 18, 1920. He lost his mother at the age of nine and his only brother at the age of eighteen. In the company of his father, who always guided him on the path of faith and Christian love, he moved to Krakow to begin his studies at the Jagiellonian University. In that city they were surprised by the invasion of the Nazi and Soviet armies in September 1939. The Germans closed the University and young Karol had to work as a laborer in a quarry and then in a chemical factory. In 1941 his father died, leaving him completely alone and without a family. Jan Tyranowski, a tailor in Krakow, introduced him to the spirituality of St. John of the Cross.

In 1943, still under Nazi invasion, he entered the underground seminary in Krakow and at the end of the war he was ordained to the priesthood by the Cardinal Archbishop of Krakow, Adam Stefan Sapieha, in his private chapel on November 1, 1946. At the end of the war he studied in Rome, where he obtained a doctorate in theology with the thesis The act of faith in the doctrine of St. John of the Cross. In 1948 he returned to Poland as vicar of the parish of St. Florian; simultaneously he was a professor at the Faculty of Theology of the Jagiellonian University and advisor to the students of that University with whom he organized frequent excursions, despite the objections of the communist authorities. In 1954 he was appointed Professor of Moral Theology and Social Ethics at the Faculty of Philosophy of the Catholic University of Lublin. On July 4, 1958, Pope Pius XII consecrated him Auxiliary Bishop of the Archdiocese of Krakow and on December 30, 1963, Pope Paul VI appointed him Archbishop of Krakow. He actively participated in the Second Vatican Council and in 1965 he was called to the Congregations for the Sacraments, Catholic Education and the Council for the Laity. On May 29, 1967, at the age of 47, he was elevated to the dignity of cardinal. Upon the death of John Paul I on October 16, 1978, Cardinal Karol Wojtyla was elected successor of St. Peter, taking the name Johannes Paulus pp II. At 58 years of age, John Paul II was the youngest pope of the 20th century.

John Paul II's pontificate - the third longest in the history of the Church - brought about transcendental changes not only within the Christian world but throughout the world, always affirmed by the conviction of his faith, launched as a slogan in St. Peter's Square on the very day of his election: "DO NOT BE AFRAID, OPEN, OPEN WIDE OPEN THE DOORS TO CHRIST!

That faith soon infected millions of people and led his compatriots to form the Solidarity trade union that challenged and buried the Marxist tyranny in Poland, thus initiating the collapse of the infamous "iron curtain". All indications are that the leaders of the Soviet Union ordered the assassination of John Paul II, which led to the bombing of St. Peter's Square on May 13, 1981. However, the Pope survived his wounds and continued to defend the freedom and dignity of peoples subjugated by communist totalitarianism. The last leader of the USSR, Mikhail Gorbachev, acknowledged, "Everything that has happened in Eastern Europe in recent years would have been impossible without the Pope's efforts."

Known as "the pilgrim pope", he chose as the destination of the first of his more than one hundred pastoral trips outside Italy the city of Puebla de los Angeles, where he inaugurated the work of the third general conference of the Latin American Episcopate. His extraordinary intellectual capacity as a theologian, philosopher and mystic was reflected in various works, some written in his youth, such as Love and Responsibility. As Pontiff he published five books of a personal nature, and as Pastor and Teacher, fourteen encyclicals, fifteen apostolic exhortations, eleven apostolic constitutions (among which is Excorde Eclesiae on Catholic universities) and forty-five apostolic letters.

By his stature as a statesman, promoter of peace and unconditional defender of human dignity, John Paul II became the main reference of hope for a better world among believers and non-believers. He died in Rome on April 2, 2005. John Paul II "the great" was beatified in Rome on May 1, 2011 and canonized on April 27, 2014.

Socorro Romero Sánchez Library

Tehuacán Campus

The era of globalization is advancing at a dizzying pace and infiltrating each and every area of human development, so one would think that among so much technology, books would become obsolete objects, totally useless for the new generations that are born as experts in the handling of electronic devices.

However, it is very easy to prove that this is not entirely true, since books are 100% useful tools at any time, place and era, of course, you have to know how to use them.

That is why, among all the services offered by the Universidad Popular Autónoma del Estado de Puebla (UPAEP) Tehuacán Campus is the "Socorro Romero Sánchez" Library, which emerges as a space for reflection and expression, thus becoming a great cohesive force, at a time when it is of vital importance.

While the media are declarative, the library fosters an environment of permanent reflection, where a diversity of questions are analyzed and raised, hoping to find answers and alternative solutions to the problems of man, society and the implications of globalization and scientific, technological and cultural development. For this and many other reasons, UPAEP has invested a great part of its efforts in installing, expanding and improving the library. On this occasion I will tell you a little about this precinct and the wonders it houses.

In building E of the campus, past the trophy case on the left hand side is our library, almost all of us have visited it, even once, however, very few of us know what is behind all that we can enjoy and use for our benefit.

At the beginning, that was not its location, it was in what is now the Admissions Department, right at the entrance of the school, but this space was very small and it was very uncomfortable for the users since they did not have direct access to the bookshelves, the search work was in the hands of the person in charge.

Some time later, it was moved to its current location, but not with the dimensions it now has, and there was still a barrier between the material and the users.

For 2009, another remodeling was carried out, with an enlargement of the space (resulting in a total of 152m2), including a virtual library, two study rooms and adequate furniture.

On March 2010, it was registered before the SEP and INEGI, assigning it the name of "Socorro Romero Sanchez", in memory of Miss "Socorrito Romero" for being part of the group of founders of UPAEP in Tehuacan, being an illustrious entrepreneur of the poultry and swine industry of our city, whose merits made her the recipient of various awards (such as the "Rigoberta Menchu" of Guatemala, International Livestock Merit, National Pig Farming, the Carmen Serdán Medal from the State Congress, in addition to her photograph being in the Hall of Fame of Argentina, Merit to the businesswoman and was named favorite daughter of our city, in addition the UPAEP recognized her with the Doctorate Honoris Causa).

On November 15, 2013, its most recent remodeling took place. On this occasion, the available material was relocated, the study room was enlarged and the collection of literature and encyclopedias was brought closer to the students in order to encourage reading.

The collections that make up the available material are:

General Collection (CG): Comprised of books that can be borrowed at home.
Reference (R): Books and materials that can only be consulted in the room.
Permanent Reserve (RP): Composed of books and materials whose demand is so high that it is essential to have copies available for consultation in the reading room for a limited period of time.

Among them, the most frequently consulted copies are: Yearbooks, atlases, catalogs, dictionaries, encyclopedias and manuals. These can be consulted in printed or electronic format.

To date, there are approximately 9,300 volumes, most of which belong to the general collection.

Virginia Gabriel García, who currently serves as librarian, has been working as a librarian for 18 years and she never stops mentioning how pleasant it is to work as a librarian. She believes that it is necessary to fall in love with what one is doing, she has access to refresher courses and service improvement, in addition to the above, with her studies in Library Science she applies everything she learns.

It also carries out a very little known process, but which is undoubtedly extremely useful, for which I just have to ask: When you go to a library, have you noticed that the books have a little ribbon with numbers and letters? That is their classification, but that series of characters is not placed there by chance.

When a book enters the library, a registration process must be carried out, the area to which the book belongs is searched, then a stamp is placed on the book to indicate that it belongs to the library, and finally it is placed on the shelves to which it belongs.

The institutional library is also linked to the donation of books by students who are about to graduate, and it also reviews the study plans and programs to evaluate whether the material available will be useful or not for the students, in this way, the material is always updated.

It is considered that students have been losing the habit of reading and researching printed sources, but this is partly due to a lack of knowledge of the tools and services offered by the library. Among these, we have inter-library loan and literary cafés. In addition to the things mentioned above, some strategies are being implemented to encourage reading and the correct use of the services available, because many times, very simple things -such as registering when entering the library- are nevertheless of utmost importance -in this case, registration is useful for statistics that have to be sent to the SEP and INEGI.

Each month, a Literary Café is held in conjunction with the Training, Culture and Leadership area of the University. As a plus to invite students to frequent and take advantage of the services available to them.

In order to show students the material available and the tools they have at their disposal, guided tours will be scheduled, which will also serve to answer any questions students may have.

Even if there is some material of interest to a student, he/she can recommend it, so that the school can acquire it, in this way, other students will have access to it in the future and the collection will be increased.

And in the cyber era, the library has software that is constantly being updated to make it easier for students to consult the catalog of available titles.

The "Socorro Romero Sánchez" library is open to the general public for consultation of any material. If you are an alumni or settler of the Impulsando Territorios project, UPAEP welcomes you with open arms and enjoy the services of this section.

This space of our institution is one of the most significant, take some time to visit it and you will discover the wonders that you can find inside.

Library branches

Karol Wojtyla Library

Central Campus

Dedicated to Karol Wojtyla

Socorro Romero Sánchez Library

Tehuacán Campus

Center for Guadalupan Studies

Center for Science and Religion Studies

Schedules