Mission, Organization, Activities, and Documents

Mission: What We Facilitate

• Control and dissemination of bibliographic information about all types of Latin American, Caribbean, Iberian, and U.S. Latino publications
• Development of library collections of Latin Americana and Caribbeana in support of educational research
• Promotion of cooperative efforts to achieve better library services
• Interest in the special problems of librarians of Latin America and the Caribbean and with library development in those areas
• Interest in providing library materials for the Spanish-and Portuguese-speaking populations in the United States

Organization: Who We Are

Librarians, archivists, book dealers, book professionals, scholars, and students interested in collecting, preserving, and providing access to Latin American, Caribbean, Iberian, and Latino information resources in all formats. SALALM was founded in 1956 and incorporated as a nonprofit association in 1968.

• An Executive Board and various executive committees provide direction and oversee finances
• A Secretariat functions as the headquarters of the organization, and manages all activities related to membership, publications, coordination of the annual meetings, and committees
• Program committees are devoted to the intellectual and technical activities related to the collections and services of libraries with Latin American resources

For historical information, see Ana María Cobos and Phil MacLeod’s “SALALM, the Seminar on the Acquisition of Latin American Library Materials: The Evolution of the Area Studies Librarianship Organization" in Pathways to Progress: Issues and Advances in Latino Librarianship, Salvador Güereña and John Ayala, eds. (Libraries Unlimited, 2012).

Activities: What we Provide

Annual Conference

• Connect with colleagues from around the world
• Learn about collections and programs related to SALALM’s mission
• Participate in committee activities
• Collaborate in regional and topical interest groups
• Meet with book vendors from many regions
• Organize panels and present papers on your research and professional activities

Social Media

• Information sharing through the LALA-L listserv, Facebook, and Twitter

Publications and Lifelong Learning

• An annual volume of selected papers from the SALALM conference
• Occasional publications in our bibliography and reference series
• An open access digital repository for materials related to Latin Americanist librarianship
• An annual compilation of Latin American library collection statistics
• Webinars on topics such as library research and instruction

Scholarships and Awards

• SALALM Conference Attendance Scholarship for graduate students
• Dan C. Hazen SALALM Fellowship for scholarly research or professional development
• Enlace Travel Awards for Latin American and Caribbean librarians and other information professionals to attend our conference
• José Toribio Medina Award for a monographic publication in bibliography or reference
• SALALM Award for Institutional Collaborative Initiatives
• Honorary Membership for retired members who have made significant contributions

Official Documents

• Bylaws/Articles of Incorporation
• Operational Handbook (.pdf)
• Code of Executive Board Decisions
• SALALM--Whistleblower Policy (.pdf)
• SALALM--Conflict of Interest Policy (.pdf)
• Financial Documents (members only)

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