BRLA Southwest Book Awards Announced for 1997
Edward Erazo

The Border Regional Library Association (BRLA) held its 26th annual awards banquet on March 1, 1997. Twelve books were recognized as outstanding publications on the Southwest (a list of the winners appears at the end of this article). BRLA President Estella Gonzalez, who doubles as this year’s TLA District 6 chair, welcomed keynote speaker State Librarian Dr. Robert Martin. Dr. Martin humorously explored the topic of the various, geographic definitions of the word Southwest. Mary Sarber and Wayne Daniel, both of the El Paso Public Library, co-chaired the Southwest Book Awards Committee, as they have done superbly for several years.

The success of the annual event is largely their doing. After the awards were presented (about half of the authors attended and accepted their awards in person), all the books submitted for consideration were raffled as door prizes. The best part about the raffle is the number of books: usually more than 100 books are given away to about as many attendees so just about everyone goes home with a book.

In addition to the 12 book awards, the BRLA Librarian of the Year Award was presented to Dr. Jesus Lau, library director at the Universidad Aut—noma de Ciudad Juarez for outstanding contribution to the El Paso/Las Cruces/Juarez library community. Dr. Lau has been active in BRLA since his arrival to the area a few years ago. He is a regular speaker on Mexican Business Information Sources at such library conferences as Special Library Association, Texas Library Association, Arizona Library Association, BRLA, and International Federation of Library Associations, to name a few. Lau’s Ph.D. in Library Science is from the University of Sheffield in England and he is a member of Mexico’s prestigious National Academy of Researchers.

This past February, Dr. Lau was the conference organizer for the seventh Transborder Library Forum, or "Foro." The announcement of the winner is always a surprise (only the committee members know in advance). Upon his acceptance of the award, Dr. Lau remarked, "Awards like this are tricky: the winners only work harder so that people will believe they really deserved the awards in the first place! The BRLA Librarian of the Year Award marks a highlight in a 20-year career--my entire professional life--in librarianship. I am sincerely grateful for this honor."

The BRLA Scholarship Award winner is also traditionally announced at the BRLA Awards Banquet, but sadly this year no one applied for the $400 scholarship. While there is no permanent library science graduate program in the area, UT-Austin has operated a satellite program at UT-El Paso for several years. At last count there were still 21 students enrolled. Maybe next year at least one of them will apply for this scholarship.

1997 BRLA Southwest Book Award Winners

Answered Prayers: Miracles and Milagros Along the Border. Eileen Oktavec. Tucson: University of Arizona Press, 1995. ISBN 0816515573.

Border Correspondent: Selected Writings, 1955-1970. RubŽn Salazar. Edited and with an introduction by Mario T. Garcia. Berkeley: University of California Press, 1995. ISBN 0520200888.

Exiled: The Tigua Indians of Ysleta del Sur. Randy Lee Eickhoff. Plano: Republic of Texas Press. ISBN 1556225075.

Following the Sun and Moon: Hopi Kachina Tradition. Alph H. Secakuku, in cooperation with the Heard Museum. Flagstaff: Northland Publishing, 1995. ISBN 0873586328.

Growing Desert Plants: From Windowsill to Garden. Theodore B. Hodoba. Santa Fe: Red Crane Books, 1995. ISBN 1878610546.

Modern by Tradition: American Indian Painting in the Studio Style. Bruce Bernstein and W. Jackson Rushing. Santa Fe: Museum of New Mexico Press, 1995. ISBN 0890132860.

The Place Names of New Mexico. Robert Julyan. Albuquerque: University of New Mexico Press, 1996. ISBN 0826316883.

Rodant Pel Mon: Roaming About the World with Urbici Soler, Sculptor (1890-1953). Paul Dean Daniggelis. El Paso: International Association for the Visual Arts, 1995. ISBN 0964806207.

San Cristobal: Voices and Visions of the Galisteo Basin. Christina Singleton Mednick. Santa Fe: Office of Archaeological Studies, Museum of New Mexico, 1996. ISBN 0890132925.

Tag Against Time. Helen Hughes Vick. Tucson: Harbinger House, 1996. ISBN 1571400060.

Trading in Santa Fe: John M. Kingsbury’s Correspondence With James Josiah Webb, 1853-1861. Edited by Jane Lenz Elder and David J. Weber. Dallas: Southern Methodist University Press, 1996. ISBN 0870743899.

Utopian Vistas: The Mabel Dodge Lujan House and the American Counterculture. Lois Palken Rudnick. Albuquerque: University of New Mexico Press, 1996. ISBN 0826316506. J

Editor’s Note: The El Paso Public Library is just now completing an annotated bibliography of the BRLA Southwest Book Award winners for the last 26 years. For more information, call EPPL’s Border Heritage Center at 915/543-5440, or send a request by fax to 915/543-5410.