Lucia M. Gonzalez

Lucia M Gonzalez
Born	Lucia Martinez 13 December 1957 Caimito, Cuba, Cuba^1
Occupation	Author, Librarian, Storyteller, Puppeteer.
Genre	Storytelling, Folklore, Fun, Historical Fiction, Latino Children's Literature
Website
luciagonzalezbooks.com

Lucia M. Gonzalez was born in Cuba, in a very small town with a very long name, Caimito del Guayabal. She came with her parents and sister to the United States at the age of 12, in 1970. Lucia has lived in Miami, Florida, California, Spain, and Venezuela.

An accomplished storyteller, puppeteer, and children's librarian, Lucia M. Gonzalez started her career in library services to children in 1987 after receiving the Bachelor of Arts Degree in History from the University of California, Santa Barbara and while pursuing her Masters in Library Science at the University of South Florida. Lucia is the author of three award-winning bilingual books, The Bossy Gallito,^[1] winner of the Pura Belpré Children's Literature Honor Medal and among New York Public Library's 100 Picture Books Everyone Should Know, and Señor Cat's Romance and Other Favorite Stories from Latin America, an Americas Award Commended Title. Gonzalez was named the Jean Key Gates Distinguished Alumni by the University of South Florida School of Library and Information Science for 1998. Gonzalez's new book, The Storyteller's Candle^[2] is a bilingual picture book illustrated by Lulu Delacre, winner of the 2008 Pura Belpré Children's Literature Honor Medal.

Awards and honors

• Awarded the 2008 Pura Belpré Children’s Literature Honor Medal for writing The Storyteller's Candle/La velita de los cuentos.^[3]
• Awarded the 1996 ALA/ALSC Pura Belpré Children’s Literature Honor Medal for writing The Bossy Gallito.^[4]
• Selected by the USF/SLIS Alumni Society as the School’s 1998 "Outstanding Graduate".

Presentations Highlights

• ALA Annual Conferences (1995, 1997, 1998; 2006, 2008) – Presentations included participation in panels discussing Latino children’s literature, bilingual books, bilingual programs and multicultural services in libraries, as well as storytelling performances and multiple author events.^[5]
• REFORMA National Conference III (2008) – Panel presenter, The Bilingual Mind. Noche de Cuentos @ the Border, program coordinator and performer.^[6]
• University of South Carolina’s Latino Children’s Literature Conference (2008 and 2009)^[7]
• Texas Library Association Convention (1995 and 2009) – Author presentation: Latina Heroines Among Us: Writing the Community-Based Biography^[8]
• Miami Book Fair International (1996, 2001, 2003, and 2008)- Author presentations to schools^[9]
• Novello Festival of Reading (October 1998 and 2008)^[10]
• International American School of Warsaw (Poland, 1999)
• ContArte Festival of the Word (Cuba, 2003) – Storytelling
• National Council of Teachers of English 87th Convention (1997)^[11]
• Shenandoah University (1997)^[12]
• Texas Woman’s University Children’s Literature Conferences (1997).

Publications

• The Storyteller's Candle / La velita de los cuentos^[13]
• Picture Books in Spanish: A Best of the Best Backlist. Criticas Magazine. May/June, 2002.^[14]
• Cultural Integration at the Library. Library Services to Youth of Hispanic Heritage: Proceedings from the Trejo Foster Foundation Fourth National Institute. McFarland & Company Inc., 1999.
• Señor Cat’s Romance and other Favorite Stories from Latin America.^[15]
• The Bossy Gallito.^[15]
• Juan Bobo and the Buñuelos. From Sea to Shining Sea: An Anthology of American Folklore.^[15]

Education

• High School, North Miami Senior High (1976)^[16]
• Bachelor of Arts History, University of California, Santa Barbara, July 1983^[17]
• Master of Arts, Library and Information Science,
• University of South Florida Tampa Bay, Florida, April 1991^[18]

Professional Library Experience

• Library Director, North Miami Public Library (2011-Present)
• Associate Director for Programming, Youth Services and Family Literacy, Broward County Library (2004)
• Assistant Section Manager. Broward County Library, Youth Services, Main Library (2003)
• Programs Coordinator for the Miami-Dade Public Library System (2000–2003)
• Children’s Department Manager, West Kendall Regional Library (1994–1999)
• Children’s Librarian / Assistant Branch Manager, Hispanic Branch Library (1994–99)
• Children’s Outreach Librarian, Imagination Factory (1990–1992)

Professional Affiliations

• American Library Association (ALA)
• Association of Library Service to Children (ALSC)^[19]
• Ethnic Materials and Information Exchange Round Table (ALA / EMIERT)^[20]
• Florida Library Association (FLA)
• National Storytelling Association (NSA)^[21]
• REFORMA (The National Association to Promote Library & Information Services to Latinos and the Spanish Speaking)

References

1. "Bossy Gallito / El gallo de bodas: (Bilingual) (Spanish Edition): Lucia M. Gonzalez, Lulu Delacre: 9780439067577: Amazon.com: Books". Amazon.com. 1999-06-01. Retrieved 2014-03-12.
2. "The Storyteller's Candle / La Velita De Los Cuentos: Lucia Gonzalez, Lulu Delacre: 9780892392377: Amazon.com: Books". Amazon.com. 2012-06-01. Retrieved 2014-03-12.
3. "Welcome to the Pura Belpré Award home page! | Association for Library Service to Children (ALSC)". Ala.org. Retrieved 2014-03-12.
4. "The Pura Belpré Award winners, 1996-present | Association for Library Service to Children (ALSC)". Ala.org. Retrieved 2014-03-12.
5. "2014 ALA Annual Conference". Ala.org. Retrieved 2014-03-12.
6. "reforma.org". reforma.org. 2014-01-25. Retrieved 2014-03-12.
7. "USC: Latino Conference". Ed.sc.edu. Retrieved 2014-03-12.
8. "txla.org". txla.org. Retrieved 2014-03-12.
9. "miamibookfair.com". miamibookfair.com. Retrieved 2014-03-12.
10. Archived January 25, 2009, at the Wayback Machine.
11. "NCTE Annual Convention". Ncte.org. Retrieved 2014-03-12.
12. Visit us Visit us Scheduling a visit is easy. "Shenandoah University - Curiosity Required". Su.edu. Retrieved 2014-03-12.
13. "Children’s Book Press | multicultural | bilingual | children’s books". Childrensbookpress.org. Retrieved 2014-03-12. C1 control character in |title= at position 9 (help)
14. criticasmagazine.com
15. "Children Book Publishing". Scholastic. Retrieved 2014-03-12.
16. http://nmhs2.dadeschools.net/
17. "ucsb.edu". ucsb.edu. Retrieved 2014-03-12.
18. University of South Florida. "Welcome to the University of South Florida | Tampa, FL". Usf.edu. Retrieved 2014-03-12.
19. "Association for Library Service to Children (ALSC)". Ala.org. Retrieved 2014-03-12.
20. Archived February 14, 2009, at the Wayback Machine.
21. storynet.org

External links

• cynthialeitichsmith.blogspot.com
• prweb.com prweb.com
• topix.net
• scholastic.com
• libraryjournal.com