I traveled to Washington DC in early March, 2024 to attend the American Library Association’s “Voices for Libraries” day of advocacy, where library leaders from all over the country gathered to meet with their Congressional representatives (or their aides) to convince them of the need for library funding for fiscal year 2025. This was the second year the American Library Association’s Washington office invited me to attend, and like last year’s adventure, it was a great experience. My colleague Erin MacFarlane and I attended training on the first day, and on the second day, we met with representatives from the offices of Senator Kelly, Senator Sinema, Congressman Grijalva, Congressman Gallego and Congressman Ciscomani. We were very warmly welcomed. The aides listened intently, asked great questions and took lots of notes so they could report back to their bosses about our meetings. All agreed that libraries are important and that the funding we asked for should be supported.
This was the second time I had the opportunity to participate in advocating for American libraries. Last year’s event was called the ALA Congressional Fly-In. Erin and I both represented Arizona last year as well, and we were able to meet briefly with Congressman Grijalva. This year we had no such luck. We met with five different congressional aides, but they were very nice to us. Erin MacFarlane and I outside the US Capitol. She works for the Maricopa County Library system in the Phoenix area, and is a wonderful person.VIsiting the different congressional office buildings was very exciting. We even had lunch in one of them and saw Senator Kelly at one point walking into his office. It surprised me to learn that he’s not very tall at all! Senator Kelly and Senator SinemaCongressman Ciscomani, Congressman Gallego, and Congressman GrijalvaOur task was to convince our hosts that federal library funding was badly needed in Arizona. We received training in storytelling the day before our visits and were provided with a bunch of talking points that we could use as we described the various services federal funding helped to provide. Erin and I enjoyed ourselves as we talked our way through each session. I tried to get each assistant to write 232 billion instead of 232 million in their notes. It was fun. I’d do it again in a heartbeat. That same night, President Biden delivered the State of the Union address. It was thrilling to know that I was in a hotel room just about a mile or two away from where the President gave his speech.
I took an extra couple of days to go sightseeing and to buy souvenirs, but my plans were dampened a bit by a day full of cold, rainy weather on one of those days. Oh well. I did manage to visit a museum and to wander around some. Here are some photos I took of the places I stayed at and the buildings I saw. I had a great time.
ALA footed the bill for my stay at the Riggs Hotel, shown here. I later moved to the Hilton Motto Hotel in Chinatown. I went to a few souvenir shops and found a bunch of stuff to bring back, including a Biden for President t-shirt and a decal. Unfortunately, there was a lot more Trump memorabilia available than Biden memorabilia. I think that’s because the Trump garbage doesn’t sell.
The only museum I was able to visit on this particular trip was the National Building Museum. I’m glad I went, even though they didn’t have very many exhibits. The National Building Museum was built in the 1880s and was the former home of the US Pension Bureau. It served a variety of purposes until 1985, when it started a new life as a museum. The terra cotta frieze by sculptor Caspar Buberi in the bottom photo on the left depicts Union veterans from the Civil War, who received benefits from the US government processed by workers housed in this building
The ceramic San Xavier figurine on the right is identical to the one I have at home. It’s really a little coin bank with a slot in the back. I’ve had mine since the 80’s and was quite surprised to see one exactly like it on display in this exhibit of building miniatures from every state.
Here are some of the buildings I saw during the day. The cherry blossoms were just starting to bloom.
Included here are the Supreme Court, Cherry Blossom trees, The US Capitol and the Martin Luther King Library building.I ventured out for a walk one evening along Constitution Avenue. It was a beautiful night. The buildings in the bottom row are the National Archives and the old Post Office, which is now a hotel. The statue is of Benjamin Franklin. The photo on the top left is of the entrance to Chinatown. I stayed at the Hilton Motto Hotel my last couple of days in Washington. The room I stayed in was very small, but the only thing it lacked was a coffee maker. Oh well. The nightly rate wasn’t bad and it was just for a couple of days.
There were other things I got to see and do, like have delicious Chinese food in Chinatown. I also bought myself a new waterproof jacket at Macy’s and took the Metro up to the Dupont Circle area to Second Story Books, where I splurged and bought a few books. I walked around the downtown area a lot too.
I really missed my friends Ron and Jane this time around, however. They moved to New York’s Hudson River Valley last year, so I’ll just have to go there to visit at some point. I also missed seeing my friend Elizabeth Robinson. We’ve been friends since the late 80s and met while working at the University of Michigan. I love her and Ron and Jane dearly. They are wonderful, amazing, beautiful people, and I am very lucky to know them.
Ron and Jane. I’ve known them since I was in high school.
My friend Elizabeth. She’s head of rare book cataloging at the Library Congress and has worked there for many, many years.
Oh well. Maybe next time. Overall, I had a great visit. DC is always a blast!
When I was in high school in the mid-70s, my journalism teacher, Jane Cruz, enrolled in the Graduate Library Institute for Spanish-speaking Americans (GLISA), a special master’s of library science program at the University of Arizona. The program, a federally funded initiative to train librarians of Hispanic descent and those wishing to serve the country’s ever-growing Spanish-speaking population, was directed by Dr. Arnulfo Trejo, a longtime librarian, academic, and founder of REFORMA, the National Association for the Promotion of Library Services to the Spanish-speaking. The curriculum of the GLISA program focused primarily on training librarians in outreach and programming for the Spanish-speaking and in building Spanish-language library collections.
Jane and her husband Ron had just acquired ownership of La Campana Books, a local bookstore that specialized in leftist literature, Latino literature and bilingual materials, and Dr. Trejo, a regular visitor to the bookstore, encouraged her to apply for a spot in the GLISA program. She was very busy at the time, raising two children, teaching at Salpointe High School, and running a new business. Unfortunately, she was also dealing with some serious health issues, and as a result decided, after having devoted a considerable amount of time and effort to her studies, to leave the program before she completed her degree. It was a difficult decision.
Learning about Jane’s experience with the GLISA program sparked my own interest in librarianship, as ever since childhood, I had loved visiting the library and reading. Jane’s experience helped me realize that being a “bona fide” librarian meant one had to have a master’s degree in library science. I kept that thought in the back of my mind as I entered college.
I attended the University of Arizona from 1977 to 1982 and graduated with a bachelor of arts degree in psychology with a minor in sociology. Shortly thereafter, I decided to apply to the graduate program in Sociology at the U of A. I was accepted into the program and took courses for a semester or two, but didn’t really care for it after a while, as it turned out not to be what I thought it would be. I didn’t know that so much of the study of sociology deals with “data” and its manipulation and interpretation.
By the Fall, 1984 semester, I remembered that I had thought about becoming a librarian at one point, so I decided to try my hand at library school, and I was accepted into the program in January 1985. By then, Dr. Trejo had retired and the GLISA program had folded. There weren’t many other Latinos in the program at the time, and I felt like a lone wolf, but I soon discovered REFORMA and I learned more about the important role that Dr. Arnulfo Trejo played both in its founding and in the broader profession as a leader in the effort to provide library services for diverse populations through recruitment of Latino librarians and the promotion of reading among the Spanish Speaking.
I joined REFORMA around 1986 while still in library school, but it wasn’t until I was working as a librarian and attending conferences that I became more involved in the organization. By the early 90’s I had served as national secretary and president of the Arizona Chapter, and had made a lot of friends who were fellow REFORMISTAs.
In 1992, I landed a job as Assistant to the Dean for Staff Development, Recruitment at Diversity at the University of Arizona, and it was at this point that I really got to know Dr. Trejo. My boss, Carla Stoffle, asked me to start laying the groundwork for the creation of a Mexican American borderlands archives program, so I set out to meet and interview a number of influential Latinos in the Tucson community, including Dr. Raquel Goldsmith, Lupe Castillo, Salomon Baldenegro and of course, Dr. Trejo, to gauge whether or not there was interest in such a program and if it was really feasible. Would there be enough material available locally to build such a program?
Dr. Trejo was a member of my parents’ generation, and I approached him with the utmost respect. He seemed very formal to me, always dressed in a suit and tie, but also very kind, approachable and thoughtful. My own style at the time was much more informal. I never wore suits or ties, and I remember him encouraging me to think twice about that. He said to me “people generally will remember you for what you say, but also for how you looked”. I didn’t take too well to the advice, but have come to realize over time that his words were quite true. I still don’t wear suits and ties, but I can see how one’s appearance does affect one’s overall impression on people.
Over the next 10 years, I would run into Dr. Trejo a lot. He was a very busy man, organizing educational institutes, selling Spanish Language books, and participating in our local REFORMA meetings. His wife, Ninfa Trejo, also worked at the U of A Library, and we worked together on planning the local arrangements for the 2nd National REFORMA Conference, which was held in Tucson in 2000.
It was a sad day when we all heard the news that Dr. Trejo had passed. The following January, a tribute was held in his honor at the 2003 Midwinter meeting of the American Library Association in Philadelphia, and I was asked to contribute to it by writing a corrido about Dr. Trejo’s life and work. I don’t consider myself much of a songwriter, but I have written one or two of them. This particular request came from a good friend named Ben Ocon, who was the national president of REFORMA at the time. I couldn’t turn him down, so I rose to the challenge, and I ended up performing “El Corrido de Don Arnulfo Trejo” in a room full of librarians (the lyrics are included at the very end of this post). I engaged everyone in a sing-a-long, and by the end of the performance, the crowd was on its feet applauding like crazy. The corrido was a hit! It was a moment in my life that I’ll never forget.
Dr. Trejo’s papers were left with Special Collections at the University of Arizona Library, and in 2014, I was asked to write the biographical note for the finding aid. I used Dr. Trejo’s biographical file and his papers to write the summary and I learned many details about his life that I and many others didn’t know. It was a real eye opener. I later re-published and expanded the biographical sketch and posted it on my blog. It has become one of my most popular blog posts. It, along with the corrido are available here: Remembering Dr. Arnulfo D. Trejo, 1922-2002.
I was recently asked to give a presentation on the life and work of Dr. Arnulfo Trejo at the VII Encuentro Internacional Sobre Comunicacion, Frontera y Movimientos Emergentes, held at the Sam Lena Branch of the Pima County Public Library on December 2 and 3, 2022. PCPL library associate and REFORMA member Escarlen Chavez invited me to do this because this year’s encuentro was dedicated to the memory of Dr. Trejo, and she knew I had written about him in the past. I was happy to oblige.
It was a great honor to be in the presence of such luminaries as Dr. Adalberto Guerrero, Dr. Macario Saldate and Dr. Armando Miguelez, who each spoke a bit after my program. I was honored and humbled by their words of thanks and appreciation. Dr. Trejo was their colleague and they were glad to know that his memory and legacy live on. They recommended that my presentation get published in “La Estrella De Tucson” and that we encourage our current UA President to create an award in Dr. Trejo’s memory. Both of these efforts will take some thought and work, but hopefully my colleagues in the local Tucson chapter of REFORMA will help me achieve these goals.
Here is the flyer for the two-day program:
Here are some photos of the event:
After the program, we took a group selfie. My friends Lorenia Diaz, Bianca Finley-Alper, Escarlen Chavez and Sila Gonzalez were all very kind and supportive.
I opened my presentation with the following quote:
“According to Salvador Guerena and Edward Erazo, in their article, “Latinos and Librarianship“(source: Library Trends, V. 49, no. 1, Summer 2000), “of all the people who have contributed to Latino librarianship in this country, there is no one who has made a greater impact advancing this cause than Arnulfo D. Trejo, indisputably one of the country’s most illustrious and distinguished library leaders.”
I then presented the following slides, elaborating and adding context along the way:
Dr. Trejo received ALA’s highest honor, that of Lifetime member. the award was given to him by then president of ALA, Nancy Kranich.
Dr. Trejo and many of the former presidents of REFORMA, some of which were his students in Library School.
Some of Dr. Trejo’s publications. The one in the middle is titled, “Bibliografia Chicana: A Guide to Information Resources”.
The following title, a work that Dr. Trejo edited, is available in full text online. See the page, The Chicanos: As We See Ourselves, and click on the download button to retrieve the full text of the book.
El Corrido de Don Arnulfo Trejo
by Bob Díaz
Voy a cantarles un corrido
De un hombre valiente y de verdad
Don Arnulfo Trejo se llamaba
y luchó para nuestra libertad
CORO:
Libertad pa’ ser Americano
Libertad pa’ hablar en Español.
Libertad pa’ ser educado
Libertad pa’ leer en Español.
Nació en México de veras
Pero a este lado su destino fue a quedar
Se creció en Tucson Arizona y desde joven luchó por la libertad
I have been a member of the Arizona Library Association for over 30 years, and in that time, have held numerous offices in the association. Most recently, in 2020, I was elected to the Executive Board as the southern region representative, (and was just re-elected this October to another 2 year term).
These past few years have been very challenging for AZLA. The pandemic has been largely responsible for us not having an in-person conference in over two years. That, combined with a few other major challenges, held us back significantly, causing us to lose membership and go into debt. Things began to change however, in early 2022, when a new slate of officers was elected to manage the association. The new president, Lisa Lewis, brought all the current officers and members of the State Library together at a planning retreat held in May in Chandler. We renewed our commitment to keep the association alive and growing. We also let go of our office manager and took control of the association’s website and other management functions. Our top priority was to plan our upcoming conference and to get our finances in order. The board and the conference planning committee were very eager to see to it that this conference was successful.
In the end, the 2022 conference, was in my opinion, one of the best we’ve ever put together. While we didn’t get huge attendance numbers, we had some excellent programs and all of our keynote speakers were top-notch. I cannot take any credit at all for the conference’s success. That needs to go to our conference planning committee and our president, president-elect, and treasurer, who met frequently to sort out all the issues, select the programs and keynote speakers, and pay all the bills that come with putting on a big three day event like this. It turned out to be one of the best conferences I’ve ever attended.
The conference was held in Prescott, Az, on October 27 and 28, 2022. I left Tucson at 9am on the 27th, and made a pit stop in Phoenix where I bought a few things at Bookmans on Northern Ave, including a couple of Benny Goodman albums and a book on jazz before heading up to Prescott.
More Benny Goodman albums for my growing collection.
I found this too. It’s a heavy mutha.
I arrived at the hotel in Prescott some time in the afternoon. I’d never been to Prescott before, and was pleasantly surprised at what I found. The elevation of the town is over 5,000 feet, and there are hills and mountains all around. It was gorgeous. The weather was cool and the skies were nice and clear the whole time. I spent most of Wednesday, Thursday and Friday at the conference, but did manage to go shopping at a few thrift stores and visit the downtown area on Friday morning. I regret not being able to spend more time exploring, and would like to go back one day to do that. Jerome and Camp Verde are in the vicinity and it would have been great to visit these places and to visit friends who live in the area.
I bought this postcard in the downtown area. It’s one of many that I found while there.
The drive to Prescott from Tucson took more than 4 hours. I stopped in Phoenix and visited Bookmans on the way up and also encountered some slow traffic along the way.
“It’s a New Day” was our conference theme. Lisa Lewis, our new president came up with it. It was perfect.
AZLA President Lisa Lewis and President-elect, Casey Van Haren at our registration table. Lisa is a very no-nonsense, but inspiring leader, and Casey is a hoot. What a great team!
Our conference was held at the Prescott Resort and Casino. My room was spacious, but the bed wasn’t very firm, and the carpeting was lumpy. Oh well. At least there was a great view.
The first photo was taken from my room window, and the one on the right was taken during our opening reception.
I ran into my friend and colleague, Jean McClelland. She photobombed my shot of the sunset.
Jamie LaRue is a longtime librarian who has spoken several times at our conferences. He was just great. He spoke about the idea of “intentional transformation” and how libraries can change lives. It was a very profound talk and I enjoyed it immensely.
My good friend Jose’ Aguinaga is now a library science professor at San Jose’ State University. He made it to the conference on the first day, and we had coffee and lunch together. I always enjoy meeting up with him. He’s a great friend and colleague.
This was a very informative program.
Some of the women featured in this book were present and spoke during the luncheon on Thursday. They were amazing. I introduced the speaker for this program. The young woman who did the presentation shared a lot of interesting information and ideas.
I also introduced my colleague Robin Huff-Eibl, who spoke about the University of Arizona Library’s technology lending program and its impact on our student population, particularly students of color. It was a very informative presentation.
I don’t know why I’m including this place, but I had dinner here. It was not great and way too expensive, but convenient, as it was just down the street from my hotel.
I sat at the same table with these volunteers from the Scottsdale Public Library. The lady pictured on the far left won this year’s volunteer of the year award. Adiba Nelson closed the conference with a wonderful talk about her life and its challenges. She made us all laugh so many times it was just wild. Loved her. On Friday morning, I hit the thrift and antique stores, as well as the Sharlot Hall Museum. The Governor’s mansion houses the little gift shop there, and these photos were taken inside it.
I found these while in the antique stores. The Dee Dee Sharp picture sleeve didn’t come with the actual record, but I already had it at home.
Treasures from the St. Vincent DePaul thrift store.
I found all of these cds for 50 cents to a dollar at the St. Vincent De Paul and Disabled American Veterans thrift stores. CDs are not as popular as they once were, and one can easily find lots of great recordings at these places, but it sometimes takes patience and time to wade through a lot of “junk” before you find the good ones. I found a lot of great ones! It was my lucky day.
More postcards that I found along the way. I was able to make a quick stop into one of the stores along Whiskey Row. The photo on the left is of the kiosk on the grounds of the old State Capitol, I think.
My last activity while in Prescott was having dinner with Lisa Lewis and other folks involved with the conference. We had a lovely time. I got up bright and early the following day and headed back home to Tucson to prepare for my Boston vacation with Ruben.
Note: this page is still under construction. Please check back again later to see the complete post. Thanks.
During her tenure as President of the University of Arizona (2012-2017), Ann Weaver Hart decided it was time to renovate Old Main, the University’s oldest and best-known campus building. It was previously renovated in the 1940s and in 1972 was selected for listing on the National Register of Historic places. The latest project, begun in early 2013, was expensive, totaling over 13 million dollars, and not a very popular undertaking (with some donors and administrators), but in the end, the transformation of the second floor of Old Main was a sight to behold. The newly renovated building, replete with new air conditioning units on both floors, now houses, among other things, student services, spacious meeting rooms, and the president’s office, and showcases some of the University’s finest artwork and cultural artifacts. The architectural firm, Poster, Frost, Mirto took the lead in designing the recent project. Sundt Construction completed the work.
In 2013, the director of Special Collections assigned me and another colleague the task of assisting the coordinator of the Old Main interior design project in identifying historic photographs and other materials for display in Old Main. My colleague took the lead in identifying and providing photographs and I worked on identifying materials for a small exhibit case and wrote annotations for many of the photos.
Historic photographs of the campus and photographs of covers of UA Yearbooks now fill the hallways and meeting rooms of the 2nd floor the Old Main building.
I chose materials for the exhibit case below. An inventory follows.
This is the exhibit case that I filled with memorabilia and documents from Special Collections. Below is the inventory of material included.
Most of the following photographs are from Special Collections. My colleague and the interior designer assigned to the renovation project worked with a professional photographer to restore and frame the historic photos included here.
Old Main at the beginning…
The original floor plan, courtesy of Special Collections.
Old Main now.
Corky Poster, one of the architects involved in the renovation project.
Photos from Special Collections above the exhibit case that I contributed material to.
Rodney Mackey, a staff member of the UA’s Planning Design and Construction department, gave a tour to the UA staff who contributed artwork and artifacts to the project.
The Arizona State Museum contributed some beautiful American Indian pottery to the project.
Minerals from the UA minerals collection.
From Special Collections, a photo of an early 20th century celebration at the Old Main fountain.
This sign, belonging to the original contractor, was found in the attic during the renovation.
The walls are also filled with photos from the Center for Creative Photography.
Meeting rooms on the 2nd floor.
Another shot of Old Main, courtesy of Special Collections.
One of the larger meeting rooms on the 2nd floor.
Another large meeting room.
The reception area leading to the President’s office.
Students at work in a science classroom, early 1900’s.
UA co-eds outside one of the women’s dorms.
Yearbook covers lined the walls of the various meeting rooms on the renovated second floor.
The architects held an open house for contributors to the project in advance of the grand opening. Below are some of the photos of the renovation.
From a presentation given by the architect, Corky Poster.
