Críticas Magazine

Loida García-Febo

Success Story: the 2008 Joint REFORMA Northeast, AILA, APALA, BCALA, and CALA
May 19, 2008

The 2008 Joint REFORMA Northeast, AILA, APALA, BCALA, and CALA was a total success. Members of the mentioned ALA affiliates met in the Instituto Cervantes in New York City to network, share ideas, and participate of a conference for and by them.

The day started with a library tour by Ana Maria Velazquez, Director of the Instituto Cervantes Library. Afterwards, the Instituto opened their gallery to host a networking lunch sponsored by Baker & Taylor and Greenwood Publications.

Keynote speaker, Danilo H. Figueredo gave an encouraging speech about librarianship, writers, and passion for life. 

Dan Figueredo’s latest book is A Brief History of the Caribbean , just published by Facts on File.  His short story “That October,” about a baseball game in Cuba during the Missile Crisis of 1962, was selected by the State Department for distribution to embassies and American schools throughout the world.  His books with Greenwood Press are: Latino Chronology, Encyclopedia of Caribbean Literature, and Encyclopedia of Cuba, and contributed articles to Nicolas Kanellos’ upcoming Encyclopedia of Latino Literature. In 2006, the president of the University of St. Martin awarded him with the presidential medal for his work on Caribbean literature.  Dan has presented academic papers at the Germany ’s Institute of Latin American Studies , in Berlin , at the Americas Society, at the U.N. and at numerous American universities.  He began as a branch librarian of the Union City Public Library, was Director of the Bilingual Program at the Newark Public Library, Latin American Bibliographer and Preservation Officer at the Research Libraries of New York Public, Executive Director of the New Jersey Library Association, and director of the library and media at Bloomfield College.  He graduated from Montclair State University , Rutgers University , and New York University .

There were two panel discussions with speakers from AILA, BCALA and CALA. The first panel included technologies used by Queens Library to meet the needs of Chinese speakers, e.g. online catalog and 24/7 reference services in Chinese;  technologies used by the National Museum of the American Indian, George Gustav Heye Center/ Resource Center in Manhattan. Examples of how Hartford Public Library uses technologies to serve immigrants were presented as well.

The second panel included presentations for librarians, e.g. how to find professional success, how to change careers, and to meet the needs of job seekers, e.g. Skills Training & Employment Project (STEP).

It was the fourth time ALA affiliates joined forces to present a conference attended by librarians, support staff, publishers, distributors, and students in the Northeast. I would like to see more of this type of conference in other regions of the nation. It involves a great deal of coordination, but it is possible! It is one of best alternatives for librarians to attend conferences. Most times, attendance to national conferences depend on library budgets, but regional conferences with free lunch and registration make possible for colleagues to exchange ideas with others, and stay up-to-date regarding library issues and services. Regional library leaders, consider a joint conference as a future initiative. It will boost membership and it will give library workers the opportunity to attend a conference at a local level.

A few pictures:


Angel Roman from B&T, Jessica Galan, Lisa Pierce, and Brien McDonald from Greenwood Publications, Loida Garcia-Febo, Aida Bardales, Editor of Criticas Magazine



Partial view of attendees.



Miguel Garcia-Colon, and Mario Gonzalez who is retiring 
after 9 consecutive years as REFORMA NE Treasurer.

Thank yous to the Instituto Cervantes, Libbhy Romero, Lisa Melendez, Miguel Garcia-Colon, Songqian Lu, Kelly Weber, Andrew Jackson, Mr. Anthony, Greenwood Publications, and Baker & Taylor. Many thanks to the speakers, Hong Yao, Louise Blalock, Mary Ahenakew, Hong Miao, Kerwin Pilgrim, and Phyllis Hodges.

Posted by Loida García-Febo on May 19, 2008 | Comments (0)