# Loida Garcia-Febo

Loida Garcia-Febo is a Puerto Rican American librarian and library consultant. Garcia-Febo served on the Governing Board of the International Federation of Library Associations (IFLA) 2013-2015 and 2015-2017 and she was a member of the executive board of the American Library Association 2015-2020 serving as a board member and president. She was president of the National Association to Promote Library and Information Services to Latinos and the Spanish Speaking (REFORMA) from 2009 to 2010.

## Career

Garcia-Febo has served as an elementary school librarian in Puerto Rico, Graduated from the Graduate School of Information Science and Technology (EGCTI), University of Puerto Rico. Was a librarian at the Centro de Informacion (PRATP) of the Unidad de Servicios Bibliotecarios para Personas con Impedimentos (SBPI) de la Universidad de Puerto Rico, [University of Puerto Rico, Library Services for Persons with Disabilities’ Assistive Technology Information Center], Chief of the SBPI, and Manager at Queens Library.
Garcia-Febo was a co-founder of the IFLA New Professionals SIG (Special Interest Group), an international forum for library and information services students and newly qualified librarians.
Garcia-Febo has served on the Access to Learning Award Advisory Board for the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation - Global Libraries, the Library 2.0 advisory board from the San Jose State University School of Information, Library Advisory Board of Praeger an imprint of ABC-Clio, and the Public Libraries Advisory Committee and has been associated with REFORMA (The National Association to Promote Library and Information Services to Latinos and the Spanish-Speaking) serving on the board from 2008 to 2011, including a term as president from 2009 to 2010.
Garcia-Febo represented the International Federation of Library Associations and Institutions as a speaker at the United Nations Development Programme Meeting on Data Accountability for the Post-2015 Development Agenda in New York.
Garcia-Febo was the President of Information New Wave, an international charity seeking to enhance the education of minority groups in the US and in developing countries.
In April 2017, Garcia-Febo was elected president-elect of the American Library Association 2018–2019. Garcia-Febo completed a national tour of libraries during her presidential term leading the Libraries = Strong Communities national advocacy initiative. Garcia-Febo represented the American Library Association at Generation Code: Born in the Library interactive exhibition presenting to the members of the European Parliament.
In June 2020, Garcia-Febo was elected to the board of trustees for the Freedom to Read Foundation. She also chairs the American Library Association Task Force on United Nations 2030 Sustainable Development Goals.

## Works

* Garcia-Febo, L. 2016. Working together: access to information and our power to cause change. Paper presented at: IFLA WLIC 2016 – Columbus, OH.
* Garcia-Febo, L. 2015. “La privacidad y la proteccion de datos.” In Analysis sobre tendencias de informacion propuestas por la IFLA. Mexico: UNAM, 2015.
* Garcia-Febo, L. 2013. Fundamental Freedoms, Library Services and Multi-Lingual Populations. Special Issue of Indiana Libraries: Intellectual Freedom & Censorship 32 (1): 45–46.
* Garcia-Febo, L. and R. Kear. 2012. “Worldwide Perceptions of New Librarians.” In Wolf-Fritz Riekert and Ingeborg Simon (Eds.), Information in e-motion Proceedings BOBCATSSS 2012 – 20th International Conference on Information Science. Amsterdam, 23–25 January 2012. Bad Honnef, Germany: Bock+Herchen Verlag, p. 122-125.
* Martínez Arellano, F. F. and L. Garcia-Febo. (eds.). 2011. Servicios bibliotecarios en America Latina: tres casos prominentes = Library services in Latin American: three outstanding cases. México UNAM, Centro Universitario de Investigaciones Bibliotecológicas : Federación Internacional de Asociaciones e Instituciones Bibliotecarias para America Latina y el Caribe.
* Garcia-Febo, L. 2011. “ALA, IFLA and their relationship with Latin America.” In John Ayala and Sal Guerena (Eds.), Pathways to Progress: Issues and Advances in Latino Librarianship. California: Libraries Unlimited.

## Awards

* 2024 ALA Medal of Excellence
* 2015 REFORMA Elizabeth Martinez Lifetime Achievement Award
* Notable Member on ALA's International Relations Round Table
* 2010 Elizabeth Futas Catalyst for Change Award
* 2007 Library Journal Mover & Shaker Freedom Fighter
* 2004 ALA/IFLA Fellowship for the 2004 IFLA Congress where she co-founded the IFLA New Professionals