Toni Garvey, director of the Phoenix Public Library, has been named 2004 Librarian of the Year by Library Journal magazine. Among her accomplishments, the editors cite her inventive response to the increasing need for Spanish-language services in Phoenix, a growing Southwest metropolis.

In an astounding commitment to ensure that new immigrants and other Spanish-language patrons will be able to communicate with staff, Garvey has instituted Spanish-language classes for all staff members, this in addition to increasing recruitment of bilingual staff. The ongoing beginner and intermediate courses are geared toward the library environment.

That specific effort is just one example of Garvey's commitment to increased and equitable library access. Since moving to Phoenix in 1996, Garvey has reorganized the branch hours so that every patron in every neighborhood has the same access to library services. Remarkably, Phoenix has been able to maintain seven-day service in every library branch, even in this rough economy.

Garvey received the award, accompanied by a $1,500 check, at a dinner hosted by Library Journal during the American Library Association's midwinter meeting in San Diego. Among the many colleagues who toasted Garvey was Liz Rodriquez Miller, a "recovering librarian" who is now assistant city manager in Tucson. Miller noted Garvey's participation in Reforma, and celebrated Garvey's attention to the needs of Spanish speakers, exclaiming, "Toni is a Latina!"