New Latin American Reading Room to be Dedicated Sept. 25 in Pitt's Hillman Library

September 23, 2002

PITTSBURGH The University of Pittsburgh's new Latin American Reading Room will be dedicated during a public ceremony at 4:30 p.m. Wednesday, Sept. 25, on the first floor of Hillman Library, 3960 Forbes Ave., in Oakland.

Peruvian-American architect Victor Beltran of L.D. Astorino Companies in Pittsburgh designed the room in a style that reflects the culture of Latin America, and independent architect Mimi Jong, AIA, supervised its overall construction. The room will house a portion of the Pitt University Library System's extensive Eduardo Lozano Latin American Collection, as well as a small conference and presentation area. Two paintings in the room are the work of Lozano, Pitt's Latin American bibliographer.

The University's Eduardo Lozano Latin American Collection is considered to be among the premier collections of its type in the nation. It contains books, numerous periodicals, microforms, maps, dissertations, videocassettes, and sound recordings. The Latin American Reading Room will primarily house reference materials.

The new room was made possible through contributions from Mr. and Mrs. Torrence M. Hunt Jr., Mr. and Mrs. Alain Belda, the Adrienne and Milton Porter Charitable Foundation, the Mine Safety Appliance Charitable Foundation, and the Mellon Financial Corporation Foundation. Mr. Hunt is on the Pitt Center for Latin American Studies (CLAS) Board of Advisors and president and trustee of the Roy A. Hunt Foundation. Mrs. Hunt is an education policy analyst, and both Hunts are members of numerous boards in Pittsburgh. Mr. Belda is president and CEO of Alcoa, Inc., and both he and his wife, Haydee Esteves Belda, are natives of Brazil. The Hunts and Haydee Belda will be present at the dedication, as will the room's architects and representatives of the other donors.

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