About

Lessa Kanani’opua Pelayo-Lozada is the Adult Services Assistant Manager at the Palos Verdes Library District in Southern California. She is also the current Executive Director of the Asian/Pacific American Librarians Association (APALA), a past president of APALA (2016-2017), and President-Elect of the American Library Association (ALA). She will assume the presidency after the 2022 ALA Annual Conference.

Lessa began her career in libraries at the County of Los Angeles Public Library’s Lomita Library as a page and has worked for many Southern California libraries including Glendale Public Library and Rancho Cucamonga Public Library as a Children’s & General Librarian. One of her most rewarding professional experiences has been as a member of the Steering Committee for the 2018 Joint Conference of Librarians of Color and she credits the 2012 JCLC with influencing her career path and professional interests.

She holds an MLIS and Bachelors of Arts in Sociology from the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) and an Associate of Arts in Philosophy from El Camino College in Torrance, California.

Her hobbies include baking, weight lifting, and for many years she danced hula for Kaulana Ka Hale Kula ‘O Na Pua ‘O Ka ‘Aina with Kumu Hula Randy Kaulana Chang.

She currently lives in San Pedro, California with her English Professor-Poet husband Christian Hanz Lozada and their menagerie of pets.