RNCIV Press Release
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:
Contact: Monica Chapa Domercq
Reforma National Conference IV Public Relations and Marketing Committee Chair
(760) 583-1472
rnc4publicity@reforma.org
www.reforma.org
August 7, 2011- Librarians Elevate Latino Services, Celebrate Milestone Anniversary
REFORMA, the national association to promote library and information services to Latinos and the Spanish-speaking will be celebrating its milestone 40th year anniversary in Denver next month at the Reforma National Conference IV (RNC IV), “Elevating Services to Latinos: Juntos in the Mile High City.” The conference will be held on September 15-18 at the Westin Denver Downtown Hotel.
The conference, inaugurating the first day of National Hispanic Heritage Month on September 15, will offer six pre-conference workshops and nearly forty breakout sessions to student and professional service providers in academic, public, school and special libraries. Boasting over eight hundred members and eighteen chapters nationwide, Reforma members and associates represent the broad diversity of the nation’s growing Latino and Spanish-speaking population.
Among a host of program presenters are some of Reforma’s most innovative leaders and luminaries such as Elizabeth Martinez, library advocate, educator and former Executive Director of the American Library Association and Pat Mora, founder of the widely celebrated El Día de los niños/El Día de los libros, Children’s Day/Book Day. Manuel Ramos, author of King of the Chicanos and Director of Advocacy for Colorado Legal Services, will also speak, bringing a local perspective to the Denver gathering.
Orlando Archibeque, Conference Co-Chair and Social Sciences Collection Development Librarian from the Auraria Library, University of Colorado Denver, is especially proud to highlight the state’s rich legacy of services to this particular community. Of special interest is a program on September 16, hosted in partnership with the Denver Public Library entitled, “Our Families: Revolutionary and Extraordinary Lives,” that will feature the history of the locales’ notable Latinos such as Rodolfo ‘Corky” Gonzales. The event is free to conference registrants.
RNC IV Conference Co-Chair, Ramiro Salazar, director of the San Antonio Public Library, explains that the Reforma National Conference “not only marks our 40th year anniversary, but how far we’ve come as an organization.” Special galas and programs are planned to pay tribute to Reforma’s founding and active members. A special Librarian of the Year Award (LOTY) will be made to a Reforma member who has provided exceptional services and met an unfulfilled need in the Latino and Spanish-speaking community.
The conference is appropriate for anyone who wishes to remain current in the field. Those interested in attending the Reforma National Conference (RNC IV) are encouraged to visit the Reforma website at www.reforma.org/rncivto register and to obtain updated information about conference programs, events and exhibits. Direct questions about RNC IV should be emailed to rnc4info@reforma.org.