Contact: Macey Morales
ALA Media Relations
312-280-5043
mmorales@ala.org
 
For Immediate Release
July 11, 2006

 

 

Authors Loung Ung, Alisa Valdes-Rodriguez,
Bertice Berry to speak at JCLC

 

 

CHICAGO - Authors Loung Ung, Alisa Valdes-Rodriguez and Bertice Berry will speak at the first-ever Joint Conference of Librarians of Color (JCLC). The conference, October 11-16, will bring hundreds of library staffers from all types of libraries and backgrounds, diversity advocates and educators to Dallas to network and exchange ideas on how to better serve increasingly diverse communities.

 

On Thursday, October 12 Loung Ung will kick-off the conference during its Opening General Session. Ung is a survivor of the killing fields of Cambodia, one of the bloodiest episodes of the 20th century, and has devoted herself to justice and reconciliation in her homeland. The World Economic Forum selected Loung as one of the "100 Global Leaders of Tomorrow." Her best-selling memoir, "First They Killed My Father: a Daughter of Cambodia Remembers" (HarperCollins 2000), was the recipient of the 2001 Asian/Pacific American Librarians' Association award for "Excellence in Adult Non-fiction Literature" (APALA).

 

JCLC will also host best-selling authors Alisa Valdes-Rodriguez and Bertice Berry.

 

Time magazine has named Alisa Valdes-Rodriguez (author of "The Dirty Girls Social Club, Playing with Boys" and "Make Him Look Good") as one of the 25 most influential Hispanics in America. Latina magazine named her Woman of the Year and Hispanic Business magazine has twice named her among the 100 most influential Hispanics in the nation. Alisa's first young adult novel, "Haters," will be released this fall.

 

Bertice Berry is a motivational speaker, sociologist and former standup comedian. She is also the author of four works of nonfiction and three previous novels, including "Redemption Song," "The Haunting of Hip-Hop," "Jim and Louella's Homemade Heart-Fix Remedy" and, most recently, "When Love Calls, You Better Answer."

 

With the theme  "Gathering at the Waters: Embracing Our Spirits, Telling Our Stories," the conference will provide a forum for the exchange of ideas on how to better serve diverse populations. Its 100 programs will focus on literacy, equity of access, diversity best practices, multicultural collection development, recruitment, service delivery and much more.

 

JCLC early bird registration will end on July 14. To register online, or to receive forms to register by mail please visit the JCLC Web site at www.ala.org/jclc. The JCLC is sponsored by the five ethnic caucus associations affiliated with the American Library Association (ALA): the American Indian Library Association (AILA); the Asian/Pacific American Librarians Association (APALA); the Black Caucus of the American Library Association (BCALA); the Chinese American Librarians Association (CALA), and REFORMA, the National Association to Promote Library and Information Services to Latinos and the Spanish Speaking.

 

Authors Loung Ung, Alisa Valdes-Rodriguez, Bertice Berry to keynote JCLC Opening General Session