Chela Francisco

Chela Francisco

Chela is a retired public librarian, having proudly served the community of Oceanside and the County of San Diego for over 34 years. Chela was born in Buenos Aires, Argentina, immigrated to the US at the age of 7, and thanks to her mother’s foresight, remains fully bilingual in Spanish/English. One of her career highlights was being chosen as one of 12 delegates from California to attend the White House Conference on Library and Information Services in 1991. After experiencing the joy of developing consensus among many differing perspectives and viewpoints, Chela was motivated to begin something new at Oceanside Library. With a successful grant opportunity, she began a library and public health nurse partnership program called Adelante, a customized bookmobile providing educational and health services to underserved neighborhoods across Oceanside. Working for the California State Library, Chela trained library staff, residents and volunteers across the state in conducting needs assessments, partnering with local business, providing outreach, documenting outcomes and many other aspects of excellent community involvement and outreach. She co-authored 3 library manuals designed to assist any size library in providing services to overlooked communities. As an NCRC trainer, Chela has trained in ART, WRE ARTIC-Spanish, specializing in training community groups, refugees and unsheltered individuals.