Years ago a group of Pima County librarians saw the need for translation services for people who speak Spanish. Soon they saw the potential for entire book collections, community events, lectures, training and anything that would celebrate the culture, voice and linguistic heritage of Spanish-speaking and Latino communities in Southern Arizona.
You could say today’s thriving Nuestras Raíces — Our Roots — program grew from a seed. And now more than ever, people are seeking ways to show their history, future and lives matter.
“It’s even more important to have this representation at a time when, it seems, institutions and politicians want to erase our history, our community,” says Samantha Neville, Latinx Services Librarian.
“To show that we will not be erased,” she says in a clear and determined voice, speaking careful and measured Spanish.
Samantha knows she sounds young, so she clarifies that she’s 30. And with a giggle she jokes that she hopes to continue being an “ageless” person. Regarding her Spanish, she’s been perfecting it with courses in Costa Rica and Spain, in addition to visiting Guanajuato, México, where her mother was born.
Amid an atmosphere shaped by political and immigration tensions in Arizona’s borderlands and across the country, the presence of Nuestras Raíces at the Tucson Festival of Books carries particular weight. Far from being just a cultural space, the Pima County Public Library program becomes a stage of representation for Latinx, Chicano and Indigenous voices.
The program’s marquee annual gathering is at the Tucson Festival of Books, held March 14–15, 2026. The Nuestras Raíces area has become a central meeting point for diversity within the event.
“We have 10 author panels, with 28 Latinx and Indigenous authors. This year there will be a bilingual panel with Luis Alberto Urrea and Álvaro Enrigue on March 14,” she says.
Samantha recalls how the program began decades ago as Spanish-Speaking Community Services and over time evolved into Nuestras Raíces. “It went from being translation services at the library to having a broader mission to celebrate culture,” she says.
The program solidified as a group of librarians dedicated to embracing Southern Arizona’s cultural roots. Two Latina librarians first grew the program with the Nuestras Raíces Festival that originally took place at Jácome Plaza. It later became a beloved part of the Tucson book festival after the literary event launched in 2009.
“We are one of the oldest and largest teams in the Pima County Library,” she says.
“Latinx and Indigenous stories are the stories of this country”
Looking ahead, she says Nuestras Raíces seeks to expand its role within the festival while maintaining a focus that reflects the diversity of experiences within communities.
“We will continue representing our culture in the best way possible,” she explains. “As a diverse community, with diverse experiences, and continuing to support authors who are just starting their careers or celebrating highly successful authors.”
Samantha says she understands what is lost when Latinx stories are not present in community spaces like the Tucson Festival of Books.
“Latinx and Indigenous stories are the stories of this country,” she says. “A very large piece of this country’s history is lost. In Tucson, this was México before it was the United States — something very important is lost.”
For her, cultural representation is an extension of everyday life. “We carry our family and culture in everything we do. The work we do at the library is important”, she says. “It’s a way to connect”.
That connection, she says, happens when people see themselves reflected in books, films and series — “you feel a very strong connection.”
Arizona Luminaria is spotlighting three local Nuestras Raíces authors who will be at the Tucson Festival of Books with their latest publications.
The poetry of Alberto Ríos: between two languages and a border
Alberto Ríos has spent a lifetime listening “for what makes no sound, trying not to mistake it for silence.” The Arizona poet laureate writes that “this quiet is louder than anything I have heard noise make.”
That sensitivity runs through Every Sound Is Not a Wolf (2025), a book built in verse in which Ríos reflects on the experience of inhabiting a body crossed by two languages and an imaginary border that divides countries, identities and memories. His poetry moves through the beauty of the world, exploring the human experience through pain and joy.
Ríos will speak about his work alongside Latino poets José Hernández Díaz and María Dolores Águila on Saturday, March 14, from 11:30 a.m. to 12:25 p.m., at the Nuestras Raíces stage in a presentation titled Versed in Resilience: Latinx Poetry, dedicated to honoring Chicano heritage in the face of adversity.
Later that same day, Ríos, an ASU professor, will participate in Laureates in Conversation from 4:00 to 4:55 p.m. at the Integrated Learning Center, followed by a book signing.
Family, food and memory in Southern Arizona
The Molino: A Memoir (2024) by Melani Martinez is more than a family story. It is an intimate portrait of daily life in Tucson, told from a factory where the smell of tamales and tortillas set the rhythm of the days while a massive corn mill operated in the background. Through those memories, the book reconstructs a historical record spanning nearly seven decades tied to work, food and identity in Southern Arizona.
Martinez, an educator, reconstructs this history with clear prose and restrained humor. The author explores both the dignity of feeding others and the emotional cost of watching a multigenerational legacy disappear.
Martinez will lead the workshop Family and Food on Saturday, March 14, from 2:30 to 3:25 p.m., at the Integrated Learning Center.
Later, Martinez and Lydia Otero, key figures in Tucson’s history and culture, will participate in the conversation Viva Tucson: Tucsonense History in Focus on March 15, from 4:00 to 4:55 p.m., at the Nuestras Raíces stage. A book signing will follow.
A simple question about the complexity of identity
Roni Capin Rivera-Ashford’s book begins with a seemingly simple question: What Color Is Your Hand? — opening a broader reflection on identity and how skin color does not define who we are.
Although presented as an illustrated children’s book, it addresses weighty themes such as bullying, discrimination and the value of self-recognition. The bilingual publication What Color Is Your Hand? (2025) tells the story of a conversation between a mestizo child and his grandmother, Nani — an exchange that reveals identity as complex, shifting and deeply human.
Roni grew up on the Arizona–México border, in Nogales, where from childhood she was immersed in two languages and multiple cultures. A bilingual educator throughout her life, that borderlands experience shapes the tone and sensibility of the book.
Roni will appear March 15 from 10:00 a.m. to 1:00 p.m. as part of the Indie Author Experience – Children’s Pavilion, within the session Once Upon a Cuento.
Later, from 2:30 to 3:25 p.m., at the Nuestras Raíces stage, she will join María Dolores Águila, Paloma Angelina Lopez and Yuyi Morales. The session will explore narratives that strengthen identity and cultural belonging. A book signing will follow.
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