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2003 Arnulfo D. Trejo Librarian of the Year! The
Trejo Librarian of the Year Award Committee is pleased and honored to
announce the Trejo Librarian of the Year for 2003. Sandra
Rios Balderrama, former Director of the Office for Diversity of the
American Library Association and former President of REFORMA (1997-1998)
has been selected as the 2003 Arnulfo D. Trejo Librarian of the Year. Passionately
supported and nominated by the former Chair of the Colorado Chapter of
REFORMA, Beckie Brazell of Denver Public Library, Ms. Balderrama's great
gift for library community building and deep commitment to diversity is
appreciatively acknowledged. Throughout her career, while at Berkeley
Public Library, Oakland Public Library, National REFORMA, and at the
American Library Association, Ms. Balderrama has so positively impacted
her colleagues that they have been "touched and changed for the
better because of Sandra's commitment to librarianship and diversity
issues". For
three years her personal dedication and leadership contributed to the
growth and development of REFORMA when she served as the national
President from 1997-1998, the Vice-President/President-elect 1996-1997,
and Immediate Past President in 1998-1999. Her legacy to REFORMA as a
member and as an officer, as stated by Ms. Brazell, "contributed
significantly to the founding of three committees/projects now integral
to REFORMA - the Children's Committee, the Pura Belpre award and the
Information Technology Committee." Ms.
Balderrama's professional career in librarianship has for many years
been closely associated with issues of diversity and the recruitment and
retention of librarians of color. As a junior librarian at Berkeley
Public Library she was instrumental in the creation of the Multiethnic
Committee that planned, among many activities, a Staff Awareness Day,
"Working Together Across Racial Lines", that continued to
influence the library staff until at least the early 1990s. From
Berkeley she moved to Oakland where from 1995 to 1997 she was the
coordinator of Recruitment, Staff Development and Retention for the
Oakland Public Library. Her contributions to Oakland, too extensive to
list completely, include coordination of a Diversity Training Pilot
Project, establishment of a system and procedures for recruitment,
development of a Library mentoring Project and the FOPL Scholarship
Program. As
the first librarian to hold the position of Director, American Library
Association Office for Diversity from 1998 to 2002, Ms. Balderrama was
aggressively involved in determining the path and successful future of
the ALA Spectrum Scholars Program. Under her influential guidance the
Spectrum Leadership Institutes have successfully provided rewarding
mentoring, management training, and created an atmosphere of acceptance
where librarians of color could learn to focus on librarianship as a
professional career. Upon
her leaving the position of Director of the Diversity Office, the ALA
Council on June 19th, 2002 passed a Resolution honoring her
outstanding work, acknowledging her numerous contributions, and
commending her exemplary service to librarianship. This
outstanding record of achievement and leadership merits the honor of
recipient of REFORMA's 2003
Arnulfo D. Trejo Librarian of the Year Award. |
Sandra
Ríos Balderrama