The Los Angeles Community College District (LACCD) is the community college district serving Los Angeles, California, and some of its neighboring cities and certain unincorporated areas of Los Angeles County. Its headquarters are in Downtown Los Angeles. Over the past seventy-seven years, LACCD has served as educator to more than three million students. In addition to typical college aged students, the LACCD also serves adults of all ages: over half of all LACCD students are older than 25 years of age, and more than a quarter are 35 or older. LACCD educates almost three times as many Latino students and nearly four times as many African-American students as all of the University of California campuses combined. Eighty percent of LACCD students are from underserved populations. The Los Angeles Community College District is the largest community college district in the United States and is one of the largest in the world. The nine colleges within the district offer educational opportunities to students in Los Angeles. It serves students located in the Alhambra, Beverly Hills, Burbank, Culver City, Garvey, Las Virgenes, Los Angeles, Montebello, Palos Verdes and San Gabriel school districts. The district covers the Los Angeles city limits, San Fernando, Calabasas, Agoura Hills, Hidden Hills, Burbank, West Hollywood, Beverly Hills, Culver City, Alhambra, Monterey Park, San Gabriel, Rosemead, Montebello, Commerce, Vernon, Huntington Park, Bell, Cudahy, Bell Gardens, South Gate, Gardena, Carson, Lomita, Palos Verdes Estates, Rolling Hills, Rancho Palos Verdes, and numerous unincorporated communities, including East Los Angeles, Florence-Firestone, Athens, and Walnut Park. The LACCD consists of nine colleges and covers an area of more than 882 square miles (2,280 km2).
The American Library Association (ALA) is a nonprofit organization based in the United States that promotes libraries and library education internationally. It is the oldest and largest library association in the world.
REFORMA: The National Association to Promote Library & Information Services to Latinos and the Spanish Speaking, more commonly known as REFORMA, is an affiliate of the American Library Association formed in 1971 to promote library services to Latinos and the Spanish-speaking. It is registered in Washington, D.C. as a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization.
Arnulfo Duenes Trejo was a writer and Professor of Library Science at the University of Arizona. He was a leader in the movement to increase library collections of Latino literature and Spanish-language materials in the United States. He was also instrumental in efforts to train more Latino and Spanish-speaking people as professional librarians.
The Pura Belpré Award is a recognition presented to a Latino or Latina author and illustrator whose work best portrays the Latino cultural experience in a work of literature for children or youth. It was established in 1996. It was given every other year since 1996 until 2009 when it was changed to be given annually.
Camila Alire is an American librarian and was president of the American Library Association from 2009 to 2010. She was the first Hispanic president of the ALA. She was previously the president of REFORMA, National Association to Promote Library and Information Services to Latinos and the Spanish-speaking, in 1993-1994.
The American Indian Library Association (AILA) is an affiliate of the American Library Association (ALA), and is a membership action group that focuses on the library-related needs of Native Americans and Alaska Natives. The organization's members consist of both individuals and institutions that are interested in improving library services to Native American people in any type of library in the United States.
Lucia M. Gonzalez is a children's author and librarian. In 2020 she was elected as president of the Association for Library Service to Children of the American Library Association. She was president of REFORMA in 2010-2011.
The Robert F. Sibert Informational Book Medal established by the Association for Library Service to Children in 2001 with support from Bound to Stay Bound Books, Inc., is awarded annually to the writer and illustrator of the most distinguished informational book published in English during the preceding year. The award is named in honor of Robert F. Sibert, the long-time President of Bound to Stay Bound Books, Inc. of Jacksonville, Illinois. ALSC administers the award.
The Asian Pacific American Librarians Association (APALA), also known as the Asian/Pacific American Librarians Association, is an affiliate of the American Library Association (ALA). It was created to "address the needs of Asian/Pacific American librarians and those who serve Asian/Pacific American communities."
Librarianship and human rights in the U.S. are linked by the philosophy and practice of library and information professionals supporting the rights enumerated in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR), particularly the established rights to information, knowledge and free expression.
The Innovations in Reading Prize was an annual award given to organizations and individuals who "developed innovative means of creating and sustaining a lifelong love of reading." The prize was awarded by the National Book Foundation, presenter of the National Book Awards. The Innovations in Reading prize was founded in 2009, and from 2009 to 2014, the National Book Foundation recognized up to five winners, who each received $2,500. Beginning in 2015, the Foundation began recognizing a single $10,000 prize winner each year, as well as four honorable mentions. In 2018, the Foundation began recognizing each honorable mention organization with a $1,000 prize. The final award was given out in 2020.
Connie Spenuzza is an American author who lives in Dana Point, California also known under her pen name Cecilia Velástegui, she has been collected by libraries.
The Black Caucus of the American Library Association (BCALA) is an affiliate of the American Library Association (ALA) that focuses on the needs of African-American library professionals by promoting careers in librarianship, funding literacy initiatives, and providing scholarships.
Loida Garcia-Febo is a Puerto Rican American librarian and library consultant. Garcia-Febo served on the Governing Board of the International Federation of Library Associations (IFLA) 2013-2015 and 2015-2017 and she was a member of the executive board of the American Library Association 2015-2020 serving as a board member and president. She was president of the National Association to Promote Library and Information Services to Latinos and the Spanish Speaking (REFORMA) from 2009 to 2010.
Elizabeth Martinez is a librarian whose career has focused on bringing diversity, multiculturalism and equality to public libraries and information policy. In 1966 she was the first Mexican American librarian to serve in the state of California. Martinez has served as a library administrator, professor, executive director of the American Library Association, and other roles throughout her career.
Oralia Garza de Cortes is a librarian, advocate, bibliographer, and scholar. She has been honored by REFORMA with the Lifetime Achievement Award which recognizes excellence in librarianship over a career for one who has made significant and lasting contributions to Latino and Spanish-speaking communities.
Carol A. Brey-Casiano is an information resource officer, a librarian administrator and former president of the American Library Association.
Nery Santos Gómez is a Venezuelan-American author.
Nicole Amy Cooke is an African-American librarian and the Augusta Baker Endowed Chair at the University of South Carolina. Her research focus on critical cultural information studies in libraries and her advocacy for social justice have earned recognition in the library profession.
