By Elena Godinez Dalmau

Interview with Yohannis Marti Lahera, Director of the Central Library of the University of Havana.

“For me, being a librarian is challenging and exciting.”

This June 7 is the day of the librarian, a date where Antonio Bachiller y Morales, historian, university professor, journalist, bibliographer and Cuban Americanist and his studies on bibliography in the country are remembered.

What is the role of a librarian?

“For me, the function of a librarian is closely associated with access to information, facilitating access to information and, of course, guaranteeing the transfer of the knowledge that is recorded in it.

The university librarian must carry out all his functions to support the three substantive processes of a university: teaching, research and university extension. At present, there is a greater development towards research support services fundamentally”.

For Yohannis Martí Lahera, Director of the Central Library of the University of Havana, "the librarian has a central role in society, as today we are inundated with information and it is essential to be able to develop the basic skills that allow access to information from quality, in a timely manner and that it is used responsibly. Not only in the provision of information services or library services, but also in the formation of skills with a focus on critical thinking and oriented towards lifelong learning, considering that the information environment has variables that are very changing over time, such as the issue of information and communication technologies”.

In this sense, the specialist affirms that although it is true that society tends to assign certain values ​​to professions based on how it perceives them, it is also important that we as librarians are capable of developing services, of offering products in a timely manner, to show the values ​​that the profession has and that consequently will bring benefits in terms of attention, recognition and prestige at a social level.