the Bolivar Street side. However, beginning from the Mexican Revolution, nationalism was on the rise and Echeverría was a Spaniard, attracting protests against foreign ownership of the building. These would continue sporadically into the 1930s. The continued pressure finally forced Echeverría to sell the business to Julio R. Lara Sosa in 1953, as there were moves to nationalize the property. The portion of the complex that belonged to the government from the early 20th century was used to store archives for about 50 years. However, starting in the 1940s, leaks and cracks from age were making major remodeling work necessary. By the 1950s, still nothing had been done and the danger to the archives was getting worse. Many of the archives were moved rather than repairs made because of cost. Another problem was that there was insufficient space to accommodate the students coming in to study the records. Establishment of the library By the 1960s, the church building had fallen into disrepair and mostly abandoned. In 1962, it was acquired by the government and rehabilitated along with the part of the ex-convent it already owned to found the Biblioteca del Congreso de la Unión (Library of the Congress of the Union). This building has 845m2 of space. However, since then, the library’s archives have outgrown the building and auxiliary buildings now house archives as well. Archives are now kept at the Palacio Legislativo de San Lázaro as well. The catalog is still maintained on cards, but a project called “Bibliomex” is converting this to digital format. See also List of colonial churches in Mexico City List of libraries in Mexico References Landmarks in Mexico City Libraries in Mexico City Mexico 16th-century establishments in Mexico Roman Catholic churches completed in 1730 Baroque church buildings in Mexico Poor Clare churches in Mexico 1962 establishments in Mexico Historic center of Mexico City