Library Journal Highlights Hispanic Librarians Serving Spanish Speakers

By Aída Bardales -- Críticas, 4/1/2007

Many of the 50 librarians and other individuals profiled in Library Journal’s 2007 Movers & Shakers are breaking barriers. Among the leaders selected nationwide, the magazine profiled a couple of librarians that are overcoming obstacles and making a difference for the millions of Spanish speakers in the United States.

Loida García-Febo, Queens Library

“We are not the immigration police,” Queens Library’s Loida García-Febo told Library Journal. “Our mission is to serve the community.” She was referring to her outrage about the Sensebrenner (R-WI) bill that would have required librarians demand proof of citizenship before offering services. This is a point García Febo feels strongly about and has spoken out on at conferences and presentations.

The Puerto Rico native was head of the disabilities unit at the university library before she joined Queens Library. Now part of New Americans Program, García-Febo was named one of the 2007 Mujeres Destacadas (“Outstanding Women”) by New York’s daily El Diario/La Prensa. You can read the full profile on LJ's website.

Lorely Ambriz, Pan American Health Organization

An award-winning program director for the major Spanish-language television station Univision, Lorely Ambriz wanted to be a librarian so much that she chose it over that higher profile job. Now, as librarian for the Pan American Health Organization, Ambriz does research and writes reports, manuals, and training materials in both Spanish and English. “I can serve my two countries and in both languages,” she told LJ. Young though Ambriz is, she has already used the skills of two professions to serve the people of two nations. Read the profile.

Library Journal will celebrate this year’s Movers & Shakers at the American Library Association conference in Washington, DC, this June.