Latina/o librarian technological engagements: REFORMA in the digital age
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Latina/o librarian technological e n g a g e m e n t s : RE F O R M A i n t h e digital a ge
M el i ss a Vi l la - N ic h o l as
University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign
1 REFORMA’s principal goals include developing Spanish-language and Latina/o-oriented library collections, the recruitment of bilingual, multicultural library personnel, the promotion of public awareness of libraries and librarianship among Latinas/os, advocacy on behalf of the information needs of the Latina/o community, and acting as a liaison to other professional organizations (About
Abstract In the late twentieth and early twenty-first century, members of the librarian professional organization, REFORMA found themselves organizing at the juncture of the struggle for Latina/o rights and the digital age, anticipating a rapidly changing future with new technologies. This article looks at REFORMA’s history of activism around Information Communication Technology during the onset of the digital age. By detailing the actions that REFORMA members took during this time period, I maintain that Latina/o librarians’ advocacy and activism for Latina/o rights were critical to the librarianship profession in the digital age. Latino Studies (2015) 13, 542–560. doi:10.1057/lst.2015.43 Keywords: Latina/o librarian history; Latina/o information history; digital age; library history; information labor; digital activism
In the late twentieth and early twenty-first centuries, REFORMA members were organizing at the juncture of the struggle for Latina/o rights and the digital age, anticipating a rapidly changing future with new technologies. The status of many Latinas/os in the United States with regard to racial and gender discrimination and class disparity positioned REFORMA as a librarian professional and activist organization during the digital age. REFORMA,1 The National Association to Promote Library & Information Services to Latinos and the Spanish speaking, is comprised of Library and Information Science (LIS) professionals interested in © 2015 Macmillan Publishers Ltd. 1476-3435 Latino Studies www.palgrave-journals.com/lst/
Vol. 13, 4, 542–560
REFORMA in the digital age
promoting Latina/o and Spanish-speaking services in libraries (About REFORMA). This article looks at REFORMA’s history of activism around Information Communication Technology (ICT) during the onset of the digital age. Latina/o librarians’ approach to advocating for access to technologies and confronting the digital divide reveals the changing social relationships to developing technologies and the Internet, and how Latina/o librarians both embraced and were cautious of the implications of new technologies. REFORMA’s early activism laid a foundation for a push and pull relationship to ICTs in the digital age. By detailing the actions that REFORMA members took during this time period, I maintain that Latina/o librarians’ advocacy and activism for Latina/o rights were critical to the librarianship profession in the digital age. REFORMA librarians engaged ICTs in new ways during the emergi
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