Mission and Vision

The Library's mission is to provide access to the information resources it holds, in addition to training and research support services through the organization, conservation and dissemination of various resources, in particular the Commission's intellectual heritage. The Library aims to provide specialized information services primarily to ECLAC officials, extending attention to specialized United Nations agencies based in Santiago, Chile, regional and government organizations, embassies, and researchers, academics and higher education students. Its aim is to provide access to the Library's information resources in its various formats, training and other research support services; through the acquisition, organization, conservation and dissemination of various resources, in particular the Commission's intellectual heritage; in a timely, reliable and relevant manner according to the specific needs of the Commission's work programme and the community at large.

The ECLAC Library in the face of COVID-19 pandemic

Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the staff of the ECLAC Library (Santiago, Brasilia, Mexico and Port-of-Spain), have become remote workers.^[2] Attempts are being made to meet the needs of external users through email, the ask us section of the website and the Libchat service to guide them in accessing open electronic resources (repository, libguides, etc.) and deliver documents in digital format.^[3] ECLAC staff have been strongly supported and trained to achieve full access to the Library's resource from outside of ECLAC's compound, providing consistent assistance to their queries while taking advantage of all available means of contact (Mail, Libchat, Teams, etc.) and also organizing frequent individual and group virtual training activities.

The Hernán Santa Cruz Library

The Hernán Santa Cruz Library^[4] is the main and oldest library located at the headquarters of the Organization, in Santiago, Chile. It is known as the ECLAC Library - was inaugurated in 1948, the same year that the Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean was founded. It was established to provide specialized information services on the economic and social development of Latin America and the Caribbean, in support of the Commission's work program. The Library is located in the United Nations building, ECLAC headquarters in Santiago, Chile. The Building is considered a landmark of modern Latin American architecture.

In 2008, the Library was named Hernán Santa Cruz Library, after a lawyer and prominent Chilean diplomat who proposed in June 1947 the creation of the Economic Commission for Latin America (ECLA), to support the economic and social development of the region. At the same time, he was a member of the Drafting Committee of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, proclaimed in 1948.

Center for Information Resources and Document Distribution

The Center for Information Resources and Document Distribution (CRIDD),^[7] of the subregional headquarters of ECLAC in Mexico, supports ECLAC's research mandate by facilitating access to information resources. The CRIDD distributes the intellectual production of ECLAC, which is directed mainly to the economic decision makers of Mexico and Central America.^[8]

Among its objectives, it stands out to collaborate with regional organizations for the development of shared information services and mutual support networks, facilitate access to information and statistics, streamline research processes, preserve ECLAC's intellectual production and disseminate its work between students and academics in the region.^[9]

Caribbean Knowledge Management Centre

The library of the ECLAC subregional headquarters for the Caribbean,^[10] which was established in 1966 along with the then ECLA Office for the Caribbean, is located in Port of Spain, Trinidad and Tobago. As part of the Caribbean Knowledge Management Centre (CKMC), it provides reference and information services to the secretariat and membership of the ECLAC Caribbean Development and Cooperation Committee (CDCC), in support of its work programme and activities in regional cooperation and integration.^[11][12]

As one of the substantive units at ECLAC Caribbean, the CKMC supports ICT for development^[13] and knowledge management initiatives through the organization of workshops and the convening expert group meetings.^[14] It also provides technical advisory services to the CDCC Member countries and Associate members, and disseminates technical research reports to key stakeholders, policymakers and members of the research community in the Caribbean subregion. Furthermore, the CKMC promotes access to key Caribbean data, news, national, regional and international research documents and information resources for sustainable development through the Caribbean Development Portal.^[15]

The Raúl Prebisch Library

The ECLAC Library in Brazil^[22] (The Raúl Prebisch Library) started its activities in Brasilia in 1980, with the objective of meeting the requests of the staff, (mainly that of the Office in Brazil, of IPEA^[23] researches and some library users of some Brazilian universities), collaborating with the development of their work and supporting their research needs in the economic and social spheres of Latin America and the Caribbean.^[24]

After, due to external demand, the library began to extend its information activities to other users, such as: consultants, economists, researches from various national research institutes, Brazilian government officials (ministers, deputies, senators, advisors), members of the diplomatic body in Brasilia (ambassadors), teachers, undergraduate and graduate students, interns and journalists, all interested in the work of ECLAC^[25] and the Latin American and Caribbean region.