Cynthia Palacios, she/her/hers, was born to Central American migrant parents and raised in South Central Los Angeles, hence her interest in social justice. After completing her B.A. in Political Science, Cynthia realized that she can best help empower minority communities via librarianship. Cynthia earned her M.A. in Library and Information Science from the University of Arizona, and is part of the Knowledge River program (which fosters cultural competency of working with minority communities via the library sciences). Cynthia’s desire to help motivate and inspire individuals manifests...
Spectrum News
Round-up of news from the Spectrum Scholarship Program. This blog features announcements from the community of Spectrum Scholars including new jobs, promotions, publications, presentations, scholarships, awards, and life accomplishments.
By Isabel Soto-Luna Receiving the Spectrum Scholarship was a game changer for me and opened up a world of support and opportunity. I feel a responsibility to give back and to ensure that future librarians have even more opportunities available to them. It is only when we work together to help others that everyone is able to succeed and I want to be part of my future colleagues' success. That is one of the reasons I volunteered to serve on the Spectrum Advisory Committee which led to me stepping up as Chair of the Giving Back Circle. It has been an honor to convene a...
Lorisia MacLeod is a 2017-2018 Scholar and currently works as an Instruction Librarian at NorQuest College in Edmonton, Alberta. Lorisia holds an MLIS from the University of Alberta, where she also received her BA in Anthropology and French Language and Literature. She was recently selected as a 2019 ALA Emerging Leader and will be working with the American Indian Library Association (AILA) on a project over the next year. Lorisia is a member of the James Smith Cree Nation and was a 2016-2018 Association of Research Libraries (ARL) Diversity Scholar. Here, she shares about her...
Victor Betts is a 2015-2016 Scholar in his final year of the MLIS program at San Jose State University. He holds an MA in Education from California State University, San Bernardino and completed his undergraduate studies in Asian Literature and Language and Sociology at the University of California, Riverside. While completing his MLIS program, Victor currently works as a library specialist at the African American Research Library & Cultural Center in Fort Lauderdale, FL. Along with fellow Scholars Marisa Méndez-Brady and Hoan-Vu Do, Victor was the recipient of a 2017 NEH-GBHI ...
LaQuanda Onyemeh is a 2017-2018 Scholar who received her MLIS from University of North Carolina at Greensboro and her B.S Dual Degree in Psychology and Sociology at The College at Brockport SUNY. She is currently the Diversity Resident Librarian at Texas A&M University where she will rotate among various departments at Texas A&M University Libraries. LaQuanda is currently assisting with planning the Texas Library Association (TLA) 2020 Houston Conference and was the recipient of NASIG's John Riddick Student Grant, 2018. Here, LaQuanda shares her experiences having recently...
To be a Spectrum scholar is to always have a home in the library community. I consider it to be a great honor to be a part of Spectrum because I know that I will always be welcomed: whether it be at a conference, a meetup, or at a chance coming together. That is why I am supporting the Spectrum Scholarship as a Spectrum Champion. I want to ensure that other future scholars have the opportunities that I was able to enjoy through the Spectrum scholarship. Being part of Spectrum opened doors for me. I still remember my first conference as a Spectrum Scholar at ALA Annual in New Orleans. It...
Tommy Bui is a 2015-2016 Scholar who holds an MLIS from the University of North Texas and an M.A. in English from California State University – Northridge. He currently works as an Associate Librarian at the Inglewood Public Library in Inglewood, California. In this position, he serves a diverse community by incorporating art-related programming like their recent printmaking workshop, and partnering with local art centers. He recently traveled to Cuba and ran the Havana Marathon. You previously mentioned that you have been able to “incorporate art-related programming...
Brenda Linares is a 2005-2006 Scholar currently working as the Health Sciences Librarian to the School of Nursing at the University of Kansas Medical Center in Kansas City, Kansas. Brenda holds a BS in Finance from California State University – Northridge, an MLIS from the University of California, Los Angeles, and an MBA from North Carolina State University. This past October, she received the Roadbuilder's Award from the Round Table for Ethnic Minority Concerns (REMCo), part of NCLA (North Carolina Library Association). Here, Brenda discusses her interests in medical librarianship...
Rachel Keiko Stark is a 2010-2011 Scholar currently working as a Health Sciences Librarian, at California State University, Sacramento. Rachel earned her BA from Willamette University and her MS from Drexel University. Rachel is a 2017-2018 MLA Rising Star and in this role recently created and presented a proposal on Just In Time Assessment at National Conference at the MLA 2018 Conference, held May 18-23 in Atlanta, GA. She has worked as a youth services librarian, a clinical medical librarian, and as a hospital library manager. Here, she shares with us her journey into medical librarianship...
I was born in Johannesburg, South Africa, and grew up under the Apartheid Regime. My family filed for political asylum after we immigrated to the U.S. in 1989. I began volunteering part-time at the West Wyandotte Library in Kansas City, KS. I attended the Kansas City, KS Community College and completed my Associate’s degree in 1993. I transferred to Park University, where I obtained my Bachelor of Science in Human Resources Management. I applied to Emporia School of Library Information Management to obtain my Master’s in Library Science in 1998. It was a two-hour commute and took...