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El Corazón de Tejas
Central Texas Chapter of REFORMA |
Meeting Notes
March 28, 2009
Terrazas Branch Library
Austin, Texas
Present: Don Bos, Bob Cárdenas, Melinda Curry, Mary Donley, Hope Lochridge, Loriene Roy, Gustavo Soto.
The minutes of the last meeting were distributed.
Items Discussed
- Día de los Niños / Día de los Libros Events – Gustavo told us that Carmen Tafolla has confirmed for two performances (10:00 a.m. and noon) at the MACC on Friday, April 24. With her Power Point presentations of What can you do with a rebozo? and What can you do with a paleta?, she is aiming for an audience of 1st through 3rd graders. AISD schools Metz and Sanchez have been invited; so have some Pflugerville elementary schools. Details of Ms. Tafolla's visit are being worked out with Linda Crockett, the cultural arts specialist at the MACC.
The Saturday, April 25 Día event will be held inside Pickle Elementary School from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. The St. John's Branch Library will be involved as will many sponsors, including Univisión, McDonald's, KLRU, Ahora Sí, RIF (Reading Is Fundamental), and the Mexican Consulate.
In the past our Reforma chapter has donated funds, but this has not occurred the last several years. We have traditionally set up a poetry activity, and this has been run by volunteers who work the event.
▪ iSchool Stipend for TLA – Don gave the group a recap of events leading up to the reinstatement of the stipend that the Corazón de Tejas REFORMA chapter awards to a UT iSchool student to attend the TLA conference. This year the award goes to Morgan McMillian. She has been notified, today Bob wrote a check that will be given to Morgan, and an official presentation will be made, possibly at our next chapter meeting. Loriene commented that Ms. McMillian is a very deserving recipient of the award.
The people in attendance at the meeting agreed that a committee should be formed to work on future chapter awards. The committee would decide how to raise the funds for the award, set the timeline, review applications, and plan the presentation ceremony.
▪ Chapter Membership – There has been a flurry of membership interest due to Don's visiting iSchool classes. Membership is free to a student his/her first year; subsequent yearly dues for students are $5.00. It was suggested that Reforma membership forms be available at iSchool orientations at the beginning of the fall and spring semesters,
and our chapter could reach out to online library students via our website. Two specific programs mentioned were University of North Texas and Texas Woman's University. Gustavo will work on a pdf flyer for that purpose. Again it was emphasized that it is best for a prospective member to submit the membership form directly to our chapter instead of sending it to the national organization. We receive much more detailed information about chapter members when the forms and payment go through our hands.
- Corazón de Tejas Chapter Website – Gustavo showed us the updated website. He will add information about the student stipend award. The chapter will look into changing servers to be able to add more to the site. The current server is free.
The chapter has produced at least one newsletter in the past. Perhaps iSchool students could help create newsletters, and they could be put on the website for all to see.
▪ Announcements/Discussion
University of Texas iSchool – Loriene gave us facts about the iSchool: a face-to-face program (not online), 300 students, half under the age of 25. The school will be moving to a location on Guadalupe near 15th Street this summer.
Marxavi Angel Martinez Deportation – Mary believes that the former library worker plus other family members are due to be deported this month.
Recommendations/Reviews – Meeting participants shared some titles of interest:
Mary Donley recommends The Queen Jade by Yxta Maya Murray. She will be reading the sequel, The King's Gold next. The books are Indiana Jones-style adventures set in Guatemala and Mexico.
Gustavo mentioned Francisco Jimenez's migrant family stories, Breaking Through and The Circuit.
Don recommends Yuji Morales' books for the 2nd-5th grade audience. Some are Nochecita, Just in Case: A Trickster Tale and Spanish Alphabet Book, Just a Minute: A Trickster Tale and Counting Books, and Los Gatos Black on Halloween.
Loriene talked about the upcoming American Experience program on PBS, “We Shall Remain.” It is a five-episode series on key events in American Indian history. The first episode airs on Monday, April 13; subsequent episodes follow on Mondays. The PBS website includes, among many other features, 40 life history films in a link called “Reel Native” and library resources with an event kit.
National Library Week begins April 11. Tuesday, April 14 is National Library Workers Day.
Future Chapter Meetings - Below are dates of future chapter meetings. All will be held at the Terrazas Branch Library (1105 East CŽsar Ch‡vez St., Austin, 78702; 974-3625) on Saturdays at 11:00 a.m.