Welcome to our first blog post! It was written by Dr. Michele A. L. Villagran, who explains the genesis of the REFORMA San Jose State University School of Information (REFORMA SJSU iSchool) student group:
Origins of SJSU iSchool’s Newest Student Group
In 2018 at the airport, I sat with Madeline Peña (then REFORMA National President) and a colleague to discuss the possibility of re-establishing the REFORMA Education Committee. This committee came to fruition in October 2018. One of Peña’s interests was to encourage the creation of student groups at Library and Information Studies master’s programs found at colleges and universities. We were aware of only one university that had a current student chapter.
Serving as the REFORMA liaison to the San Jose State University iSchool beginning in 2018, I felt there was a need for a student group at SJSU focused on promoting diversity in the library profession. Our group was officially launched this July 2020 and is only the second student group within the United States. My vision is for students to become involved with REFORMA sooner while in school so they will learn about the organization, collaborate with other REFORMA members through their local chapters, and to continue to support serving Latino and Spanish speaking communities beyond our program. Our group intends to collaborate with REFORMA National and REFORMA chapters to strengthen our relationships and get students involved. Additionally we are planning to connect and work with SJSU entities such as Chicanx/Latinx Student Success Center.
Aligning with SJSU iSchool mission and vision, and REFORMA goals, this group’s purposes are to unite SJSU iSchool students, alumni, and librarians interested in working with the Spanish speaking, promote issues concerning educational materials and library programs available to serve the Spanish speaking, promote the development of Spanish-language and Latinx library collections, collect and disseminate information about and for the benefit of the Spanish speaking, help recruit prospective bilingual and bicultural students to the library profession, and engage in any other educational activities. We welcome you to our new group and hope you will join us in our endeavors to support Spanish speaking and Latinx communities.
About the Author
Dr. Michele A. L. Villagran
Dr. Villagran is an accomplished educator, innovative speaker, entrepreneur, consultant, cultural intelligence and diversity and inclusion expert with over 25 years of experience in the public and private sectors. She is an assistant professor with San José State University School of Information where her research focuses on cultural diversity and social justice in library and information science and cultural intelligence phenomena within organizations. Dr. Villagran is the founder and CEO of CulturalCo LLC, which provides consulting services in conflict management, bias, emotional intelligence, cultural intelligence, diversity, and inclusion. She is the REFORMA National Education committee chair, SJSU iSchool REFORMA liaison, and Faculty Advisor of the new REFORMA SJSU iSchool student group.