Lucia M. Gonzalez was born in Cuba, in a very small town with a very long name, Caimito del Guayabal. She came with her parents and sister to the United States at the age of 12, in 1970. Lucia has lived in Miami, Florida, California, Spain, and Venezuela.
An accomplished storyteller, puppeteer, and children's librarian, Lucia M. Gonzalez started her career in library services to children in 1987 after receiving the Bachelor of Arts Degree in History from the University of California, Santa Barbara and while pursuing her Masters in Library Science at the University of South Florida. Lucia is the author of three award-winning bilingual books, The Bossy Gallito, winner of the Pura Belpré Children's Literature Honor Medal and among New York Public Library's 100 Picture Books Everyone Should Know, and Señor Cat's Romance and Other Favorite Stories from Latin America, an Americas Award Commended Title. Gonzalez was named the Jean Key Gates Distinguished Alumni by the University of South Florida School of Library and Information Science for 1998. Gonzalez's new book, The Storyteller's Candle is a bilingual picture book illustrated by Lulu Delacre, winner of the 2008 Pura Belpré Children's Literature Honor Medal.
Awards and honors
Awarded the 2008 Pura Belpré Children’s Literature Honor Medal for writing The Storyteller's Candle/La velita de los cuentos.
Awarded the 1996 ALA/ALSC Pura Belpré Children’s Literature Honor Medal for writing The Bossy Gallito.
Selected by the USF/SLIS Alumni Society as the School’s 1998 "Outstanding Graduate".
ALA Annual Conferences (1995, 1997, 1998; 2006, 2008) – Presentations included participation in panels discussing Latino children’s literature, bilingual books, bilingual programs and multicultural services in libraries, as well as storytelling performances and multiple author events.
REFORMA National Conference III (2008) – Panel presenter, The Bilingual Mind. Noche de Cuentos @ the Border, program coordinator and performer.
University of South Carolina’s Latino Children’s Literature Conference (2008 and 2009)
Texas Library Association Convention (1995 and 2009) – Author presentation: Latina Heroines Among Us: Writing the Community-Based Biography
Miami Book Fair International (1996, 2001, 2003, and 2008)- Author presentations to schools
Novello Festival of Reading (October 1998 and 2008)
International American School of Warsaw (Poland, 1999)
ContArte Festival of the Word (Cuba, 2003) – Storytelling
National Council of Teachers of English 87th Convention (1997)
Shenandoah University (1997)
Texas Woman’s University Children’s Literature Conferences (1997).
The Storyteller's Candle / La velita de los cuentos
Picture Books in Spanish: A Best of the Best Backlist. Criticas Magazine. May/June, 2002.
Cultural Integration at the Library. Library Services to Youth of Hispanic Heritage: Proceedings from the Trejo Foster Foundation Fourth National Institute. McFarland & Company Inc., 1999.
Señor Cat’s Romance and other Favorite Stories from Latin America.
The Bossy Gallito.
Juan Bobo and the Buñuelos. From Sea to Shining Sea: An Anthology of American Folklore.
High School, North Miami Senior High (1976)
Bachelor of Arts History, University of California, Santa Barbara, July 1983
Master of Arts, Library and Information Science,
University of South Florida Tampa Bay, Florida, April 1991
Library Director, North Miami Public Library (2011-Present)
Associate Director for Programming, Youth Services and Family Literacy, Broward County Library (2004)
Assistant Section Manager. Broward County Library, Youth Services, Main Library (2003)
Programs Coordinator for the Miami-Dade Public Library System (2000–2003)
Children’s Department Manager, West Kendall Regional Library (1994–1999)
Children’s Librarian / Assistant Branch Manager, Hispanic Branch Library (1994–99)
Children’s Outreach Librarian, Imagination Factory (1990–1992)
American Library Association (ALA)
Association of Library Service to Children (ALSC)
Ethnic Materials and Information Exchange Round Table (ALA / EMIERT)
Florida Library Association (FLA)
National Storytelling Association (NSA)
REFORMA (The National Association to Promote Library & Information Services to Latinos and the Spanish Speaking)
