The American Library Association will receive more than $1.6 million of the nearly $28 million in librarian recruitment and education awards announced June 19 by the Institute of Museum and Library Services under the 2007 Laura Bush 21st Century Librarian Program. The multifaceted grant program supports tuition assistance, curriculum development, service expectations, job placement, recruitment of nontraditional library students, and support for doctoral candidates to teach library science and research.
A grant of $872,920 will fund “Reach 21: Preparing the Next Generation of Librarians for 21st Century Library Leadership,” to be matched by $773,553.
Building on the success of ALA’s Spectrum Scholarship program, “Reach 21” will foster the recruitment, matriculation, and early career development of 150 minority students in master’s-level library and information studies programs; provide mentoring and coaching of 60 additional students from underrepresented backgrounds; establish a formal, yearlong mentoring program that will leverage community and support networks, and aid educational and early career retention; and create an outreach services component.
Another grant goes to ALA, in partnership with the Western Council of State Librarians, to develop a national voluntary certification program for support staff in rural or small-town public and academic libraries, funded by a $207,111 grant, to be matched by $546,198. The three-year “Library Support Staff Certification Program” will result in a set of core competencies, policies, and procedures, and will provide alternative options for assessing current knowledge of the field and experience for nontraditionally trained library staff. The resulting plan, to be sustained by ALA, will be tested in five sites.
The third grant is for ALA’s Public Programs Office to create and administer the “Online Resource Center for Library Cultural Programming (ORC): A Web-Based Professional Development Space for Librarians,” designed to help librarians find authoritative resources for cultural programming. Training will also be held in cultural programming techniques. IMLS awarded $358,690 for this project, to be matched by $419,216.
ORC will organize and make accessible through links and online documents national cultural program information and training tools, and provide access to successful turnkey programs developed by cultural organizations such as state humanities councils. The three-year project includes an evaluation component to be administered by librarians, educators, and students.
Posted June 21, 2007.