Interview with Dora Ho
by Aline Pereira*

Dora Ho is the Young Adult Librarian/Program Specialist of the Los Angeles Public Library. She is active in the American Library Association (ALA), Asian/Pacific American Librarians Association (APALA), Chinese American Librarians Association (CALA) and REFORMA, the National Association to Promote Library and Information Services
to Latinos and the Spanish Speaking.

A past president of CALA, Dora Ho has been a member of the California Library Association Beatty Award (Children Books) Committee and the Chinese American Librarians Association Best Book Award Committee, and is currently serving as chair of APALA's Asian/Pacific American Award for Literature.

She has recently been elected to serve a third term on the ALA Council, the governing body of the American Library Association. Since 2003 she has served as a mentor to students at the UCLA School of Library Information Science, where she received her own Master of Library Science degree.
.............................................................................................

To begin, please tell us a little bit about the Asian/Pacific American Award for Literature.

The APAAL awards were created at the National Conference on Asian Pacific American Librarians, which is actually a precursor to the JCLC, the Joint Conference of Librarians of Color.  At the National Conference of Asian/Pacific American Librarians in San Francisco in 2001, the Literature Award Committee consisted of members from both the Chinese American Librarians Association and the Asian/Pacific American Librarians Association.  The chair of the Award Committee at the time was Marian T. Chou from Indiana.  The two associations joined forces to create awards that honor excellence in Asian American literature.  The Asian/Pacific American Librarians Association gave out the awards every other year until 2006, when it became an annual event.

How would you describe your role in the award process? What are some of the skills one must have in order to qualify for being a committee Chair or coordinator?

My role as the committee chair is an administrative one.  I only cast my vote in case of a tie - and in my years of serving on this committee, I have never had to do that. The winning books usually stand out among the other titles.

My tasks as Chair also include: contacting committee members, keeping the list of addresses up to date, contacting publishers to request review copies, and setting the schedule and timeline for the deliberation of titles. In addition, I'm responsible for notifying winners, ordering plaques for the award ceremony, compiling annotations and issuing press releases for the award. I also serve as MC at the award ceremony and report to the APALA Executive Board.

Would you please tell us a little bit about the selection process?

This is how the selection process works: in January, I ask committee members to submit their individual list of finalists in a particular category, then I compile and distribute the list to everyone in the committee.  I encourage members to re-read some of the titles, to refresh their memory, in case the books were published earlier in the year.  Then we set aside one week (or two, depending on the number of finalists) to discuss the titles in a particular category. Members of the committee make the case for the books they feel would merit the award, and the voting process begin.

How have disagreements and/or controversies been handled in the past?

Fortunately, we have not had any controversies over the years. More often than not, as I said before, the winners stand out among the others. When there are several outstanding titles among the finalists, we go into a point system and submit our vote based on the various criteria.  

What have been some of the most challenging and most rewarding aspects of being part of your award committee?

The most challenging aspect is the fact that there are so many good books, which makes you want to award every title as the winner! Another difficulty sometimes is trying to obtain review copies of books from publishers and making sure every committee member receives all titles. Many smaller publishers are not aware of the Asian/Pacific American Librarian Association Literature Award, so we don’t always receive their books.  I have personally tried very hard to contact each publisher directly, to obtain copies, but haven't always been successful in my attempts. It's a pity to see potential titles miss out in the selection pool because of that.

Of all the books that have won or been honored during the years you’ve been involved with the award, which one has left a lasting impression on you, more so than any other?

There are so many wonderful titles... but  Brothers by Da Chen comes to mind. It is a great novel about the life of two brothers who grew up in opposite circumstances, during the Cultural Revolution.

Do you have an opinion about the controversy surrounding ethnic book awards, such as happens with the Coretta Scott King Award, which require that a writer and/or illustrator must belong to a particular ethnic group to qualify?

That isn't the case of the Asian/Pacific American Award for Literature, as you know. I understand that certain awards, besides recognizing literary excellence, aim to encourage narratives by ethnic groups that are under-represented, and I think that's a good way to promote new perspectives and new talent. Whether an award has ethnicity as a criterion or not, at the end of the day, I believe we are all judging books in terms of the quality of their content.

Please tell us a little bit about the efforts that have been made to promote the award.

We mainly promote it through the ALA and APALA website and by talking to publishers and vendors; also by talking to authors, to find out what they are working on.   

Can you recommend any forums for teachers to share their experiences of working with these award-winning books in their classrooms?

I don't know of any existing forums, but would love to hear how teachers are using the award-winning books in their classrooms. If they email me, we can post their experiences or success stories to the APALA website.  

*Aline Pereira is PaperTigers Managing Editor and Producer

Posted June 2009

back to top

about us | newsletter & privacy policy | downloads | site map | search | testimonials | disclaimer

home | outreach | blog
©2001-2011 Pacific Rim Voices