EL PASO, TX July 2014—The El Paso City Council voted unanimously in favor of renaming an El Paso library in honor of acclaimed author and Ysleta native, Sergio Troncoso. As of July 29, the Ysleta Branch Library will be known as the Sergio Troncoso Library. It was built in 1996 and is located at 9321 Alameda Avenue, El Paso, Texas 79907.
Representative Eddie Holguin of District 6 suggested the name change during his last council meeting. “I decided to propose the name change because Troncoso has advocated for literature, so that children can see that other El Pasoans of the Valley have done great things and they can be inspired to believe they can be successful too,” Holguin said.
The son of immigrants from Juárez, Mexico, Troncoso grew up in an adobe house built by his parents.
“I am very honored, I love Ysleta and I will always be from Ysleta, from El Paso. I was a chubby boy who liked to read, things haven’t changed much but I am still passionate and I still advocate for literature,” Troncoso said.
Sergio Troncoso is the author of The Nature of Truth (Arte Público Press, 2014), From This Wicked Patch of Dust (University of Arizona Press, 2011), Crossing Borders: Personal Essays (Arte Público Press, 2011), and The Last Tortilla and Other Stories (University of Arizona Press, 1999), which won the Premio Aztlán and the Southwest Book Award. He received his undergraduate degree from Harvard College and two graduate degrees, in international relations and philosophy, from Yale University. He lives and works in New York City.
Arte Público Press is the nation’s largest and most established publisher of contemporary and recovered literature by U.S. Hispanic authors. Its imprint for children and young adults, Piñata Books, is dedicated to the realistic and authentic portrayal of the themes, languages, characters, and customs of Hispanic culture in the United States. Based at the University of Houston, Arte Público Press, Piñata Books and the Recovering the U.S. Hispanic Literary Heritage project provide the most widely recognized and extensive showcase for Hispanic literary arts and creativity.