Roberto Carlos Delgadillo, a librarian at UC Davis, has been recognized as a winner of the “I Love My Librarian Award.”
The award, which was granted to 10 librarians nationally, is presented by the Carnegie Corporation of New York, The New York Times and the American Library Association and serves to acknowledge the exceptional work of public and school librarians.
As humanities, social sciences and government information services resources manager at Peter J. Shields Library on campus, Delgadillo was noted for his expertise and resourcefulness in the Chicana/o studies department. However, Delgadillo emphasized that while he is known for his work with Chicana/o topics, he is a resource for all students with various backgrounds, majors and interests. Some of his many fields of study include English literature, education, religious studies and military history.
Miroslava Chavez-Garcia, chair and associate professor in the department of Chicana/o studies, nominated Delgadillo for the award. According to Chavez-Garcia, the award is meant to recognize those librarians who are especially committed to serving people’s needs through finding information and resources, as well as expanding knowledge.
“He is available 24/7 to answer question [and] point you in the right direction, and he does it all in a way that makes sense to you,” Chavez-Garcia said.
In discussing his involvement in community outreach, Delgadillo said that he understands the time constraints that students experience, and aims to assist them in a way that compensates for their busy schedules.
“A lot of times students don’t have time to go to the library, so outreach is there so that we can go to them,” he said. “I want to help students get more bang for their buck.”
Michael Winter, a librarian who also works in the department of Humanities, Social Sciences and Government Information Services Resources, praised Delgadillo for his skill in a variety of fields.
“He has consistently demonstrated great leadership ability that has been widely recognized by a number of Davis campus groups … Not many librarians are so highly-regarded in so many different geographical venues,” Winter said.
According to Winter, Delgadillo has done work with an organization for Spanish-speaking populations, UC’s California Digital Library and international associations such as the Seminar for the Acquisition of Latin American Library Materials, and he is also active in disability studies.
With the declaration of this award, Delgadillo was given a sum of $5,000 as well as a personal plaque commemorating the award. In addition, a plaque was provided for the library to put on display.
JESSICA GRILLI can be reached at campus@theaggie.org.
