Arnulfo Trejo

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Arnulfo Duenes Trejo (August 15, 1922 – July 5, 2002) 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.

Trejo was born in Villa Vicente Guerrero, Durango, Mexico. He attained various academic degrees: B.A., University of Arizona, 1949; M.A., University of the Americas,(in Spanish language and literature), 1951; M.A., Kent State University,(in library science), 1953; Litt.D. (with honors), National University of Mexico, 1959.

In 1971 he founded REFORMA, the National Association to Promote Library and Information Services to Latinos and the Spanish-speaking, which is today the primary organization for Latino librarians as well as for librarians serving Latino communities. In recognition of his importance to the organization, REFORMA's Librarian of the Year Award is now named after Dr. Trejo.

In 1975 he founded the Graduate Library Institute for Spanish-speaking Americans (GLISSA), an American Library Association-accredited Masters degree program for training librarians. During the institute's four-year existence Trejo was directly involved in recruiting Latino students into the program and contributed to their education. GLISSA's graduates include many Latina and Latino librarians who are present-day leaders in the field.

In 1980 Trejo cofounded Hispanic Books Distributors, a Spanish language book seller aimed at increasing the availability of Spanish-language materials to libraries in the United States. In 1992, he, his sister Luisa Duenes Trejo, and his second wife, Annette M. Foster Trejo, created the Trejo Foster Foundation for Hispanic Library Education, which has sponsored national institutes for library education to serve the information needs of Latinos. His third wife Ninfa Trejo, they were married in 1995, continues the work of the Trejo Foster Foundation as President of the Foundation.

He won many awards, including: the Simón Bolivar Award, Colegio de Bibliotecónomos of Venezuela, 1970; El Tiradito Awards, El Tiradito Foundation, 1973 and 1975; annual award from League of Mexican-American Women, 1973; Rosenzweig Award, Arizona State Library Association, 1976; Distinguished Alumni Award, Kent State University School of Library Science. In 2001, the American Library Association (ALA) granted Trejo Honorary Membership, an honor conferred on a living citizen of any country whose contribution to librarianship or a closely related field is so outstanding that it is of lasting importance to the advancement of the whole field of library service. It is intended to reflect honor upon the ALA as well as upon the individual.

Arnulfo Trejo died in his home in Tucson, Arizona in 2002, at the age of 79.

[edit] Bibliography of Trejo's Works

• Bibliografía Comentada Sobre Administración de Negocios (title means Annotated Bibliography on Business Administration), Addison-Wesley, 1967, 2nd edition published as Bibliografía Comentada Sobre Adminsitración de Negocios y Disciplinas Conexas, 1967.
• Dicionario Etimólogico del Léxico de la Delincuencia (title means Etymological Dictionary of the Language of Delincuency), UTEHA, 1969.
• (Editor) Directory of Spanish-Speaking/Spanish Surnamed Librarians in the United States, Bureau of School Services, College of Education, University of Arizona, 1973, revised edition published as Quién es Quién: A Who's Who of Hispanic-Heritage Librarians in the United States, Bureau of School Services, College of Education, University of Arizona, 1986.
• Bibliografía Chicana: A Guide to Information Services, Gale, 1975.
• (Editor and contributor) Proceedings of the April 28-29, 1978, Seminario on Library and Information Services for the Spanish-Speaking: A Contribution to the Arizona Pre-White House Conference, Graduate Library Institute for Spanish-Speaking Americans (Tucson, Arizona), 1978.
• (Editor and contributor) The Chicanos: As We See Ourselves (essays by fourteen Chicano scholars), University of Arizona Press, 1979.
• Contributor to American Libraries, Arizona Highways, Folklore Americas, Wilson Library Bulletin, and other magazines.

[edit] Further reading

• A memorial to Arnulfo Trejo on the REFORMA website
• Obituary in Criticas
• REFORMA: the National Association to Promote Library and Information Services to Latinos and the Spanish-speaking
• Trejo Foster Foundation

[edit] References

• Contemporary Authors Online, Gale, 2006. Reproduced in Biography Resource Center. Farmington Hills, Michigan: Thomson Gale. 2006.
• A Tribute to Arnulfo D. Trejo by Sal Güereña