Scholarships

Argelia is a native of the San Diego/Tijuana region and is proudly bilingual and bicultural. She graduated from San Jose State University with a Master's in Library and Information Science in 2020 and began working for the San Diego County Library in 2022. She is a former San Diego Libros board member, a Libros Student Scholarship recipient in 2020, and was awarded REFORMA's Noche de Cuentos Mini Grant in 2021. Argelia has collaborated with the Centro Cultural de la Raza in Balboa Park on various projects, including Bibliotequita Colibrí, a small children's library that was established with the support of her family, Centro's volunteers, and Libros-San Diego. She currently enjoys serving her community at the Imperial Beach Library. 

 Rosa was the founding President of REFORMA San José State University (SJSU) School of Information (iSchool) Student & Alumni Group and led the group from fall 2020-spring 2022. She created the group’s signature program Cafecito con… Her professional memberships include American Library Association (REFORMA National, Association of College and Research Libraries, and other library related groups. She has presented at professional conferences that include, ACRL, CLA, Reforma National, SJSU Library 2.0, ALA Midwinter, and the California Sociological Association (CSA). She has moderated a variety of programs, events, and panels. She was the MC and member of the planning committee for SJSU’s first College of Professional and Global Education (CPGE’s) Online Student Conference and an invited panelist for SJSU’s Hispanic/Latinx Symposium, “Making Vital Connections: Understanding and Serving the Hispanic/Latinx Community”.

She is part of the CSUSM Latino Alumni Board and the San José State University Inclusion, Diversity, Equity, Accessibility (IDEA) Committee. Recently, Rosa's exceptional contributions in Outreach at the California State University San Marcos, University Library were recognized when she was selected as one of 250 ALA members to receive a special bonus from author James Patterson. This honor celebrates the release of Patterson's latest nonfiction book, The Secret Lives of Booksellers & Librarians. The winners were announced at the American Library Association Conference, held in San Diego.

Karen was the recipient of the 2018-2019 LIBROS scholarship for her passion and work in libraries across Southern California. She earned her MLIS from San Jose State University in 2019 and was awarded the Director's Award for Intellectual Inquiry. Receiving the LIBROS scholarship allowed her to pursue her degree while working as the library technician at Knob Hill Elementary School, a public school in San Marcos which serves a roughly 40% Hispanic population. 

She started her library career as a page in the LA County Library system and went on to work in public libraries in Orange and San Diego County. Currently she works as an academic librarian for Palomar College and MiraCosta College, both of which are HSIs (Hispanic Serving Institutions). At Palomar College she served on the Educators for Equity, Diversity, and Cultural Consciousness Subcommittee which is a group whose job is to identify and develop opportunities for further implementation and integration of diversity, equity, inclusion, and cultural consciousness in the classroom, curriculum, and hiring. Karen credits LIBROS with providing her support to combine the knowledge she gained in her classes with new experiences in the field of librarianship in order to better serve her community and satisfy her curiosity for learning.