PRESENTERS

Xi (Cathy) Chen graduated from the School of Library and Information Studies, McGill University Canada, Cathy Chen joined Queens Public Library in 2004. She is the Assistant Director for the New Americans Program. Cathy is an active member of NYLA, PLA, ALA and CALA. She presented at ALA Annual Conferences, JCLC and REFORMA Mini joint Conference. Cathy serves on the Executive Board of the Northeast Chapter of CALA. Contact: (Cathy) Chen, New Americans Program, Assistant Director, Queens Public Library

Contact: xchen@queenslibrary.org

Presentation: Serving Immigrant Communities during the Pandemic and Beyond

Nathalie Levine is a library associate at Princeton Public Library, a Master of Information student at Rutgers University, and a member of REFORMA, APALA, and CALA. She has a background in Asian American and immigrant outreach, services, and civic engagement. She has worked as a immigration legal representative, a naturalization program coordinator, a bilingual canvasser, and a Census enumerator. Inside and outside the library, she is passionate about community organizing, outreach, and making information accessible across languages and platforms. Nathalie Levine, Library Associate Adult Services Princeton Public Library.

Contact: nlevine@princetonlibrary.org

Presentation: Welcoming Spanish Speakers into the Library using WhatsApp

Elizabeth Taveras Rivera, Dr. Elizabeth Taveras Rivera is a researcher, teacher, educator, and New York State certified bilingual special education teacher. Her latest publication, Female Puerto Rican Teachers’ Testimonios of Retention and Culture (2020) is representative of her research on teacher retention and culture. Dr. Taveras Rivera has worked as a bilingual education consultant at Fordham University and City College. Her areas of expertise include culturally relevant curricula development in the special education classroom, teachers’ anti-bullying training, and teacher identity and retention. Education Policy Research Associate Center for Puerto Rican Studies, Hunter College.

Contact: CUNYer515@tc.columbia.edu

Presentation: Our Communities, Celebrating Puerto Rican Stories

Aníbal Arocho is the Library Manager at the Center for Puerto Rican Studies Library & Archive, Hunter College, City University of New York where he manages library reference services, and a growing collection of over 18,000 items. He holds a Masters of Science in Library and Information Science from the Pratt Institute.

Contact: CUNYaa3260@hunter.cuny.edu

Presentation: Our Communities, Celebrating Puerto Rican Stories

Dr. Raquel M. Ortíz Rodríguez, Ph. D.

Dr. Raquel M. Ortíz Rodríguez is an anthropologist, educator, and award winning children’s book author. Her scholarship focuses on the visual arts, culture, literature, music, and identity and includes El Arte de la Identidad: Aproximación crítica al jibarismo puertorriqueño en la literatura, la música y las obras de arte (University of Granada, 2011) and the documentary, Memories on the Wall: Education and Enrichment through Community Murals (2013). Dr. Ortíz Rodríguez creates curricula and educational materials for the Center for Puerto Rican Studies, the New York City Department of Education, Behind the Book, Literacy INC, Arte Público Press, Brooklyn Public Library, Cleveland Public Library and the Hispanic Information and Telecommunications Network.

Contact: Contact: dr.raquelmortiz@gmail.com

Presentation: Our Communities, Celebrating Puerto Rican Stories.

Jetzarel González is a library associate at Princeton Public Library, a MLIS student at University of Puerto Rico, and a REFORMA member. She has a background in theatre education and customer service. In her three years in the library field, she has introduced numerous programs for the immigrant and Spanish-speaking community, including "La hora de cuentos," an ESL beginners class, Connecting Teens with La Biblioteca, and a WhatsApp reference tool. Her focus is to serve Spanish speakers and make them lifelong library users.

Contact: jgonzalez@princetonlibrary.org

Presentation: Welcoming Spanish Speakers into the Library using WhatsApp