Federal & Armed Forces Libraries Round Table supports Spectrum Presidential Initiative

CHICAGO - The Federal & Armed Forces Libraries Round Table (FAFLRT) of the American Library Association (ALA) has announced its support of the Spectrum Scholarship Program through a gift of $500 to the Spectrum Presidential Initiative.

ALA President Roberta Stevens, Immediate Past President Dr. Camila Alire, ALA President-Elect Molly Raphael and ALA Past President Dr. Betty J. Turock, chair of the initiative, continue the Spectrum Presidential Initiative as a special campaign to raise $1 million for the Spectrum Scholarship Program. Through this initiative, ALA aims to meet the critical needs of supporting master’s-level scholarships, providing two $25,000 doctoral scholarships, increasing the Spectrum Endowment to ensure the program’s future and developing special programs for recruitment and career development. FAFLRT’s contributions will allow ALA to continue to support master’s-level Spectrum Scholarships.

Karl E. Debus-López, FAFLRT President 2010-11, said of the gift, “We are very happy to support the Spectrum Scholarship Program. Federal and military libraries and librarians support a diverse population at home and abroad. The work done by federal and military librarians cuts across all types of librarianship. FAFLRT’s mission and the Spectrum Scholarship Program are in complete alignment and I sincerely hope that others will contribute to this important cause.”

FAFLRT promotes library and information service and the library and information profession in the Federal and Armed Forces communities; provides an environment for the stimulation of research and development relating to planning, development and operation of Federal and Armed Forces libraries; and is a supportive network for professional growth and advancement and a focal point for discussion of key information management and technology issues. To learn more about FAFLRT, visit www.ala.org/faflrt.

Established in 1997, the Spectrum Scholarship Program is ALA’s national diversity and recruitment effort designed to address the specific issue of under-representation of critically needed ethnic librarians within the profession. Spectrum Scholars improve service at the local level through the development of a representative workforce that reflects the communities served by all libraries. Spectrum has provided more than 680 scholarships to qualified applicants enrolled in an ALA-accredited graduate program in library and information studies or an NCATE-AASL reviewed and approved school library education program. To learn more about the Spectrum Scholarship Program, visit www.ala.org/spectrum.

For more information about the Spectrum Presidential Initiative or to make an online donation, visit http://spectrum.ala.org. To learn more, get involved, or to make a pledge to the Spectrum Presidential Initiative, contact Miguel A. Figueroa, director, Office for Diversity & Spectrum at mfigueroa@ala.org, or Kim Olsen-Clark, director, Development Office at kolsen-clark@ala.org.