Mexico - Libraries and museums

The Mexican public library system has over 4,800 branches holding in total almost 20 million volumes and servicing over 72 million registered library users as of 1993. The National Library, now affiliated with the National University of Mexico, has about three million volumes. Other important collections include the Library of Mexico, the Library of the Secretary of the Treasury, and the Central Library of the National Autonomous University in Mexico City. In total, there are over 1,000 libraries affiliated with institutions of higher education.

The National Museum of Anthropology in Mexico City, founded in 1825, has over 600,000 anthropological, ethnological, and archaeological exhibits and a library of 300,000 volumes. Among its exhibits are the famous Aztec calendar stone and a 137-ton figure of Tlaloc, the god of rain. The National Historical Museum, attached to the National Institute of Anthropology and History, has more than 150,000 objects ranging in date from the Spanish conquest to the constitution of 1917. The National Museum of Art exhibits Mexican art from 17th century to present, while several other art museums exhibit the works of leading European artists, including the Museum of Modern Art and the Museum of Popular Art. Also in Mexico City is the Frida Kahlo Museum in the former home of Frida Kahlo and Diego Rivera, featuring the works of the former, considered to be Mexico's finest artist. (There is another museum featuring Rivera's work in Guanajuato.) Many public buildings in Guadalajara and elsewhere display murals by famous Mexican painters.