On November 16, 2022, Latinx Talk, https://latinxtalk.org/about-us/ an online publication focused on research, commentary and creativity published a tribute to the late Dr. Roberto C. Delgadillo, who was an Associate Librarian at UC Davis in an article titled: “What Roberto Meant To Us:” https://latinxtalk.org/2022/11/16/what-roberto-meant-to-us-at-latinx-talk/

The Latinx Talk article described that Roberto meant for the Latinx Editorial Board, followed by personal tributes of the many lives he touched. To be honest, we could have written several books on the people who knew him and called him a friend. When I left the Latinx Talk editorial board in 2017, I approached both Roberto and Isabel Espinal (University of Massachusetts, Amherst) for the board and they both accepted, so I nominated them both and both of them joined the publication.

In the article in Latinx Talk, I shared that I first met Roberto when we both applied for a Hispanic Studies Librarian position at the Texas A&M University, but as I now recall, I met him many years before at my first SALALM conference I attended when I was an Assistant Fine Arts Librarian at the University of Arizona Library. In later years, as a member of SALALM, I had the opportunity to travel to the Dominican Republic. Roberto attended as well. And somewhere in between we both met at the Popular History Conference in Albuquerque, NM. Through Roberto, I also I became involved with EMIERT (The Ethnic & Multicultural Information Exchange Round Table of the American Library Association). Roberto was the type of person you could call on the phone and if he wasn’t busy, you could talk to him about just about anything in the library world which we shared. I think he and Isabel were once on a panel of librarians with PhDs, which encouraged me to continue my doctoral degree. For such as young man, he was wise beyond his years. He was quick witted and always vested in building community in all the organizations where he was a member.

Isabel received numerous professional tributes and she asked each contributor if Latinx Talk could republish them and I’m glad they gave her permission to republish them:

https://latinxtalk.org/2022/11/16/what-roberto-meant-to-us-at-latinx-talk/

Latinx Talk is an online, interdisciplinary, peer-reviewed, and moderated forum for the circulation and discussion of original research, commentary, and creative work in brief and diverse formats such as essays (500–2000 words), multimedia presentations, podcasts, and short video. The publication seeks to provide a space for Chicanx and Latinx Studies ideas, research, and creativity that may foster critical dialogues. As a forum, they host conversations on important topics and publish single-author or collaborative work. They also welcome reader’s comments on the site. The publication also welcomes work from individuals and organizations involved in organizing on issues of concern to all and multiple Chicanx and Latinx communities. All publications represent the views of individual authors. All submissions are reviewed to ensure that they are appropriate for this venue, offer an original and interesting analysis or perspective, cite relevant research, and meet our length requirements. For further information on Latinx Talk, please visit at: https://latinxtalk.org/about-us/

This article originally published in Latinx Talk.

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What Dr. Roberto C. Delgadillo Meant for Me