During the ALA Midwinter meeting in Seattle, WA REFORMA announced the site selection. Conference attendees will experience the heartwarming welcome of the City of El Paso, with the largest international border community in the world, its unique culture, and warm desert sunshine, in addition to the friendly hospitality of the REFORMA’s El Paso Chapter.

The REFORMA 3^rd national Conference will continue to reflect the spirit of inclusiveness of our previous national conferences while allowing us to share our collective knowledge, expertise and commitment to excellence in serving the need of the Latino and Spanish-speaking.

Conference planning and a call for volunteers have begun. The call for Presentation proposals will be announced later this year. Planned events, but not limited to, include 3 Preconferences (one full day and 2 half days), Exhibitor Hall, and two general plenaries with keynote speakers. We expect programs on children’s services, Spanish language materials, outreach services, recruitment and mentoring, bilingual programming, library school curriculum, Spanish language collection development and much more. In addition, we are working with the Director of El Paso Libraries, Carol Brey-Casiano and the local REFORMA chapter on a Bienvenidos Reception at the Main Library.

El Paso’s Camino Real Hotel and the Judson F Williams Convention Center will accommodate conference attendees and exhibitors. El Paso sits at the western tip of Texas where visitors can travel to Ciudad Juarez, Mexico by trolley. Due to this proximity, we will also be working with the Library Director Mtro. Jesús Cortés, from the Universidad Nacional Autónoma de Ciudad Juárez to outreach to Mexican librarians.

REFORMA, established in 1971 as an affiliate of ALA, is committed to the improvement of the full spectrum of library and information services to the growing population of Spanish speakers and Latinos in the United States.

Questions can be directed to Selina Gomez-Beloz or further information can be found on the REFORMA website.