For Immediate Release March 2000
Contact: Lillian Castillo-Speed 510-642-3947

REFORMA, the National Association to Promote Library Services to Latinos and the Spanish-Speaking, has announced it is sponsoring an award competition to honor a library school for commitment to library services to Latinos in the United States. The Library School Excellence Award will be presented at the REFORMA National Conference (RNCII), August 3-6, in Tucson, Ariz.

The growing U.S. Hispanic population is in need of library services that take into account cultural and linguistic needs, as well as the growing "digital divide" between those who have and those who do not have access to the Internet. The REFORMA Library School Excellence Award seeks to recognize and encourage the vision of those library schools that have already recognized these needs and are incorporating solutions into their curriculum, their recruitment practices and their hiring goals.

Library schools or programs accredited by the American Library Association (ALA) are eligible. Nominations will be judged by how well excellence is demonstrated as they relate to Hispanic Americans and the Spanish-speaking in the following areas: recruitment of students, faculty and staff; enrollment and retention of students; hiring of faculty and staff; retention of faculty and staff; curriculum; scholarships; and mentoring.

REFORMA to sponsor first Library School Excellence Award/add one

Upon hearing of the award, Satia Orange, director of the ALA Office for Literacy and Outreach Services, applauded REFORMA’s effort as a visible encouragement to the outreach curricula of ALA-accredited library schools. She also expressed excitement about the possibility of a similar recognition in the future that would be sponsored by all the ethnic caucuses in ALA.

The award winner will be announced July 7, 2000. The formal presentation will be made during the REFORMA conference award night dinner on Friday, August 4.

For more information on the award, call Lillian Castillo-Speed, Award Committee Chair, at 510-642-3947 or send e-mail to csl@library.berkeley.edu. See the RNCII Web site at www.reforma.org/rnc2 for additional information.

REFORMA is an affiliate of the ALA.