The Asian/Pacific American Librarians Association (APALA) Scholarships and Awards Committee is excited to announce the recipient of the 2024 APALA Travel Grant: Lara Gamboa.
APALA’s 2024 Travel Grant funds attendance at the 2024 American Library Association (ALA) Annual Conference and Exhibition. Congratulations!
My name is Lara Gamboa (she/her). I am currently pursuing my MLIS degree at the University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa (UHM). I also work at UHM’s John A. Burns School of Medicine Health Sciences Library as the Information Services Assistant, assisting the librarians with day-to-day operations, providing information services, and maintaining our online library guides and social media presence. Prior to this position, I worked with the Hawaii State Public Library System as a Library Assistant.
I aspire to give back to my community by becoming a public librarian, providing a welcoming environment and meaningful and educational library programs where people can come together, explore, and connect. With this being my first time attending the ALA conference, I’m excited to learn about various programs and practices that I can bring into my future career and hopefully create relationships with others who have a similar drive to public libraries to help me gain perspective and ideas.
In my spare time, I like to play cozy games on my Switch, spend time with my dog, Simon, and travel (especially to Disneyland when I can).