TREJO, Arnulfo D(uenes) 1922-2002

OBITUARY NOTICE—See index for CA sketch: Born August 15, 1922, in Villa Vicente Guerrero, Durango, Mexico; died of complications from a stroke July 5, 2002, in Tucson, AZ. Librarian, educator, and author. Trejo helped lead the movement to increase collections of Hispanic literature in American libraries and to train more Hispanic librarians. Before going to college he served in the U.S. Army infantry in the South Pacific theater during World War II, receiving the Purple Heart, the Bronze Star, and a Philippine Liberation Ribbon. Returning to the United States, he earned a long list of academic degrees, including a B.A. from the University of Arizona in 1949, an M.A. in Spanish language and literature from the University of the Americas in 1951, an M.A. in library science from Kent State University in 1953, and a doctorate from the National University of Mexico in 1959. Trejo embarked on a long career as an academic librarian in 1954, first working as an assistant librarian at the National University of Mexico, then as a reference librarian at the University of California at Los Angeles during the 1950s. From 1959 to 1963 he was an assistant librarian at California State University in Long Beach. Trejo joined the faculty at UCLA in the late 1960s as a professor of library science before moving to Tucson, where he was a professor of English and library science at the University of Arizona from 1970 to 1975 before focusing on library science until 1984. In addition to his academic and library career, Trejo was involved in many organizations to help promote Hispanic literature and train Hispanic librarians. He was founding president of the National Association to Promote Library Services for Spanish-speaking Americans from 1971 to 1974, founder of and mentor for the national library service organization REFORMA, founder of club Reformita, and founder of the Trejo Foster Foundation, which promoted library education for Hispanics. He was also active in national organizations such as the American Library Association and in 1980 founded Hispanic Book Distributors with his wife. Trejo wrote or edited several books to aid Hispanic librarians, among them Bibliografia Chicana: A Guide to Information Services (1975), and was an editor and contributor to The Chicanos: As We See Ourselves (1979). For many years he also edited and published the Hispanic Books Bulletin.

OBITUARIES AND OTHER SOURCES:

periodicals

Arizona Daily Star, July 9, 2002, p. B2.