CHICAGO — As part of its commitment to furthering diversity in the profession, the Young Adult Library Services Association (YALSA) chose Hoan-Vu Do as its 2010-2011 Spectrum Scholar. Do will attend the San Jose State University School of Library and Information Science.
Do was drawn to library school after becoming a regular patron in sixth grade and after his experiences working at a library during college.
“When I started, I was nervous about helping patrons find books and answering reference questions but as time progressed, I came to really enjoy working for the public library. After I finished my research assistant jobs in Vietnam and Oregon, librarianship crossed my mind,” Do said. “I love conducting research and organizing information for accessibility and working with the public. Librarianship is the answer.”
Do looks forward to specializing in teen services, after working as a youth mentor, and to experiencing the networking opportunities that the Spectrum and YALSA will provide. After hearing raves about the Spectrum program from a coworker, he decided to apply.
“As a fellow Spectrum Scholar, I now feel part of that camaraderie and can’t wait to learn from other Spectrum Scholars and YALSA,” Do said. “I hope to learn more about cross-cultural and multicultural programming with youth and how to better serve the community’s youth population. With these experiences and YALSA as my mentor, I will learn how to provide the best service to the community.”
Do is YALSA’s third sponsored Spectrum Scholar, a program funded by the
Friends of YALSA. YALSA has made encouraging diversity in the profession a priority.
“YALSA wants to make sure that those wanting to work with teens have opportunities to gain strong educational experiences. The division also recognizes the importance in encouraging diversity so teens have access to librarians that reflect their own lives and experiences,” said Linda Braun, YALSA president. “Through scholarships, grants and professional development YALSA helps to guarantee that new and studying librarians are able to keep up in the dynamic field of teen librarianship.”
The
Spectrum Scholarship Program provides scholarships to American Indian/Alaska Native, Asian, Black/African American, Hispanic/Latino and Native Hawaiian/Other Pacific Islander students pursuing graduate degrees in library and information studies. Its mission is to improve service at the local level through the development of a representative workforce that reflects the communities served by all libraries. Since 1997, the ALA has awarded a total of 683 Spectrum Scholarships.
For more than 50 years, YALSA has been the world leader in selecting books, videos and audio books for teens. For more information about YALSA or for lists of recommended reading, viewing and listening, go to
www.ala.org/yalsa/booklists, or contact the YALSA office by phone, (800) 545-2433, ext. 4390, or e-mail.
yalsa@ala.org.