Lucia M. Gonzalez

Board Member
Hialeah, Florida
She/her/hers
lgonzalez@janeaddamspeace.org

Lucia M. Gonzalez is an award-winning author, storyteller, and librarian born in Caimito del Guayabal, Habana, Cuba.  Inspired by the stories she heard while growing up in Cuba, Lucia turned those early experiences into a profession, becoming a librarian specializing in service to young readers. She is Past-President of REFORMA, the National Association to Promote Library and Information Services to Latinos and the Spanish Speaking (2010-11), two-time recipient of national Library Journal Movers & Shakers Award for her contributions in shaping the future of libraries, the 2020-21 President of the Association for Library Service to Children (ALSC), a Division of the American Library Association, and recipient of REFORMA’s 2023 Elizabeth Martinez Lifetime Achievement Award.  Lucia is also the author of three children’s books: The Bossy Gallito, winner of the 1996 Pura Belpré Children’s Literature Honor Medal and part of New York Public Library’s 100 Picture Books Everyone Should Know; Señor Cat’s Romance and Other Favorite Stories from Latin America, an Américas Award Commended Title; and The Storyteller’s Candle/La velita de los cuentos, winner of the 2009 Pura Belpré Children’s Literature Honor Medal for narrative, and a 2009 Jane Addams Children’s Book Award Honor Book.