NYC librarian swims to raise funds for Spectrum in memory of Elizabeth A. Blatz and Carol Small

For Immediate Release
Tue, 07/23/2013

Contact:

Gwendolyn Prellwitz

Assistant Director

Office for Diversity and Spectrum

spectrum@ala.org

CHICAGO — Miriam Tuliao, assistant director for selection at BookOps of the Brooklyn Public Library (BPL) and The New York Public Library (NYPL), announced that she will participate in the IGLA Championship Open Water Swim to help raise funds for ALA’s Spectrum Scholarship Program and promote diversity in libraries.  The event, to be held Aug. 18, 2013, is a two-mile open water swim taking place in Lake Washington off the coast of Mercer Island.

Tuliao is a United States masters swimmer who has participated in several long-distance open water events, including the Big Shoulders 5K Swim in Chicago in September 2007. Tuliao participated in the New Jersey State Triathlon in 2008 and the 5.85-mile Little Red Lighthouse Swim in 2009, both times raising funds for the ALA Spectrum Scholarship Program. Tuliao has also participated in two United States Masters Swimming two-mile Cable Open Water National Championships in support of the Spectrum Presidential Initiative. Last year she raised funds for Spectrum through swimming a 1.2-K race around the Statue of Liberty in memory of Mrs. Ann Bianchini.  Tuliao is delighted to continue her annual tradition of raising funds for the Spectrum Scholarship Program while honoring the memory of librarians who have contributed to their communities.

“I will be swimming in Lake Washington, Mercer Island, (Wash.) in memory of Elizabeth A. Blatz and Carol Small, former librarians at The New York Public Library,” said Tuliao.  “These two veterans were deeply appreciated for their kindness and commitment to public service.”

Elizabeth A. Blatz, administrative librarian at The New York Public Library, passed away on Aug. 31, 2012.  “I was lucky to have Betsy Blatz as a mentor,” said 2012 LJ Mover & Shaker Carrie Banks.  “Her ability to negotiate a large library system, support innovative initiatives–like reaching out to children with HIV in the late 1980s–and treating each child as an individual was awesome.”

Carol Small, library manager at the Hamilton Grange Library, passed away on May 10, 2013.  Small received the 2010 Maher Stern Award for Excellence in Community Service and in 2011 the Hamilton Grange Library built a 4,400-square-foot, high-tech teen center, the first of its kind in northern Manhattan.  The teen room's $1.8 million in funding came from private donors. 

Established in 1997, the Spectrum Scholarship Program is an ALA initiative to increase diversity in the profession.  Spectrum recruits and provides scholarships to American Indian/Alaska Native, Asian, Black/African American, Hispanic/Latino or Native Hawaiian/Other Pacific Islander students to assist them with obtaining a graduate degree and leadership positions within the profession and our organization.  Our aim is to increase the number of racially and ethnically diverse professionals in the field of library and information science to best position libraries at the core of today’s culturally diverse communities. Spectrum has provided more than 800 scholarships to qualified applicants enrolled in an ALA-accredited graduate program in library and information studies or an AASL-recognized School Library program. To learn more about the Spectrum Scholarship Program, visit www.ala.org/spectrum.

To make an online donation or pledge to support the future of the Spectrum Scholarship Program please visit www.ala.org/giveALA or contact Kim Olsen-Clark, director, Development Office at kolsen-clark@ala.org.