Dr. Arnulfo Trejo:
Tribute to a Friend, Mentor, and Colleague
Dr. Arnulfo D. Trejo, professor emeritus at the University of Arizona School of Information Resources and Library Science, passed away Friday evening, July 5 at his home in Tucson.
As many of you know, Dr. Trejo leaves a legacy of significant accomplishments as a professor, scholar, author and publisher. Most notably, he will be remembered for his vision and leadership as founder of REFORMA. Since its founding in 1971, REFORMA has grown to over a thousand members throughout the country as well as Puerto Rico and Latin America.
Dr. Trejo's passion was equity of service and diversity of the profession. To this end, he established the Graduate Library Institute for Spanish-Speaking Americans (GLISA) at the University of Arizona. His persistence and perseverance in creating GLISA to recruit and train librarians to serve the growing Spanish Speaking community in the United States has had a profound impact on the number of Hispanic/Latino librarians. During its four-year run, approximately 60 students earned their MLS degrees, substantially increasing the percentage of bilingual/bicultural librarians. Numerous GLISA graduates have gone on to establish illustrious careers and have gained prominence at the national level. Throughout his distinguished career, Dr. Trejo set the highest standard for professional involvement and activism in librarianship and in doing so, inspired a generation of librarians to promote change. To many of us, he was the guiding force in shaping our careers if not our lives.
Arnie Trejo's accomplishments are too many to do justice in this acknowledgement. Let it be known that he was also a pillar in the Tucson community and fought hard to honor and preserve the Hispanic heritage of that city. Rather than listing all of his successes and accomplishments, I would like to take this opportunity to share the following tributes from several of his friends and colleagues
Luis Herrera
Director, Pasadena Public Library
Elizabeth Martínez
Former ALA Executive Director
"Dr. Trejo - el patron, el jefe, gave us a legacy of librarians dedicated to Latino and Spanish Speaking communities. I will always remember meeting him as he was striding down the corridors of the Dallas Convention Center at the ALA conference in 1970, stopping everyone he could to talk about a new organization he called REFORMA. His message was "...Necesitamos reformistas, ...para servicios bibliotecarios, ...para la raza, ...para nosotros - Mejicanos, Chicanos, Latinoamericanos, ...para todo mundo." He was tall, and strong, and speaking with a powerful voice never stopped recruiting reformistas. He was always DR. Trejo to me, my way of showing respect for him, and his legacy. I believe, that even today, he is still recruiting reformistas."
Ben Ocon
REFORMA President:
"Dr. Trejo's vision of
improving library services to Latinos and the Spanish-speaking brought many of
us together into a special fellowship known as REFORMA. With his kind
words of encouragement and support, he inspired us to work hard, to not fear
success and to take risks whenever possible in our efforts to help the
community. We will miss him dearly but his spirit and vision will live on and he
will be with us always."
John Ayala (EPDR)
Founding Member and REFORMA Past President:
"It was my good fortune
to know and admire Dr. Trejo (Arnie) for over 31 years. I consider him a friend,
mentor, professional guide and counselor. My first contact with him was during
the period in which he founded REFORMA. He was an energetic visionary who saw
the need at the national level for an organization to support library services
to Hispanics. Without his strong determination and his ability to organize the
various Spanish speaking librarians to work for a common goal REFORMA would not
exist today. He will be missed at both a personal and professional level that is
not replaceable. His influence will remain long after his passing. We are all
richer for his being here and for his selflessness and caring."
Camila Alire
ALA Executive Board Member
REFORMA Past President:
"This is indeed very, very sad news. To Ninfa -- God bless you for the happiness you brought to Dr. Trejo and he, to you. Dr. Trejo had such an impact on many lives even beyond the GLISA grads and he never gave up his fight for diversity and diversity issues within our associations."
Luis Herrera
REFORMA Past President and GLISA I Alumnus
(Read at the REFORMA National
Conference II in a ceremony honoring Dr. Trejo, Aug. 2000)
"Estimado Dr. Trejo,
From the moment I met you, as one of the first fifteen Glisistas in 1975, you espoused the ideals of service to community, commitment to excellence and dedication to high professional standards. These ideals shaped not only my professional life but my personal life as well. The skills I learned in GLISA have been of great benefit to me throughout my career as a school librarian, educator, public librarian and library director. As a role model and mentor, you taught me that librarianship is not just a profession or a career, but an avocation, and with that avocation comes an obligation to serve and to serve well.
Thank you for helping to instill in me a sense of confidence, pride and dignity and for teaching me the importance of family and friendships. With your commanding leadership style and your astute vision, you were a marvelous example for me to follow. You inspired me to succeed in my role as a public servant and to embrace the challenge of leadership."
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