The Allen County Public Library digitized more than two decades of Fort Wayne’s only Spanish-language newspaper. The new community album is a part of the library’s ongoing digital archiving project.
El Mexicano was founded in 1994 as a source of news, information and connection for Fort Wayne’s growing Spanish-speaking community. Now, thousands of copies are printed and dropped off around Northeast Indiana each month.
Thanks to the ACPL, residents can also access archives of each edition of the paper through their website, both in and out of the library.
Esteban Coria is the bilingual programs and partnerships specialist at the library. He said this is just another step in the library’s effort to provide free public access to historically significant artifacts.
“We want this to be a library for everybody, and we want all voices to feel welcome and at home," Coria said. "And, I think, what better way to do that than preserving such an invaluable resource?”
He has his own connection to the newspaper. When he moved to Fort Wayne in 2006, he began reading it to help him connect with the community.
As of Thursday afternoon, digitized issues between 2002 and 2025 are available through the ACPL’s website, but the goal is to have all past and future editions digitized and preserved as well.
