Thank you Suzy Marrufo, branch manager, and the entire staff of the
Sergio Troncoso Branch Library for your work on behalf of the annual
Troncoso Reading Prizes.
On December 18th, we held the ceremony to present the winners with
certificates of achievement and gift cards from Barnes and Noble. I also
gave each student a signed copy of one of my books.
The newly renovated Troncoso Branch Library looks beautiful. I arrived to an expanded parking lot, gorgeous light from the sunset coming in through the windows, and library patrons quietly reading books and magazines on the new furniture. The circulation desk was also redone. Bravo, City of El Paso, for investing in our local library! Even the reconstruction and widening of Alameda has been finished, so now the road to and from the library is also in great shape.
The 2019 winners of the Troncoso Reading Prizes are:
Mirayah Arleene Flores and
Anthony Morelos (1st place);
Jocelyn Soria and
Sofia Aguirre (2nd place); and
Isabella Guerrero Cortes and
Celine Guevara
(3rd place).
I loved chatting with this year's winners and their parents about growing up in Ysleta, education, the importance of reading, and creating a reading culture at home. They asked many questions, and I was happy to have great conversations about how reading can foster concentration, self-worth, and a sense of self that helps you achieve your goals. The
El Paso Public Library
was where I learned to satisfy that intellectual hunger for ideas and
stories, and I could see that hunger and focus in all of these students.
Each of them reminded me of who I was many years ago. I love this
community, and I will keep returning to Ysleta to award these prizes
every year and to talk to families about how they can educate
themselves and their children to gain a voice, to reach their goals, and
to return and help others.
Every year, we award prizes
for students who read the most books between September 15-November 15. The
prizes are awarded only to students within the geographical area
covered by the Sergio Troncoso Branch Library.
First
Place receives a $125.00 gift card.
Second Place receives a $100.00
gift card.
Third Place receives a $75.00 gift card.
All prizes are
gift cards from Barnes and Noble Booksellers. A total of six prizes are awarded.
Librarians
at the
Sergio Troncoso Branch Library register
readers during the eligible period of the prizes. The library staff
administers the prizes and makes final decisions on all the
prizewinners.
If you have any questions or to register
for the 2020 prizes, please contact the library staff at the Sergio Troncoso
Branch Library, 9321 Alameda Avenue, El Paso, Texas, 79907. Telephone:
915-212-0453.
If you are reading A Peculiar Kind of Immigrant’s Son or any other of Sergio Troncoso’s books, he will meet with your book group by Zoom for an hour or two. Zoom is easy to use, and the host (Sergio Troncoso) sets up the meeting and emails all participants with a link, which they click to enter the ‘virtual meeting.’ Sergio will be able to see and hear all the participants on his computer, and they will be able to see and hear him on their computers too. You can talk about any book by Sergio that the group has read, ask him questions about his novels, stories or essays, and discuss the craft of writing with him as well. Each month he will only do a few of these Virtual Book Groups as his time and schedule permits.
