Bergis Jules selected as RUSA Spectrum Scholar Intern
Contact: Eileen Hardy
Marketing Specialist
(312) 280-4398
ehardy@ala.org
For Immediate Release,
February 19, 2008
Bergis Jules selected as RUSA Spectrum Scholar Intern
CHICAGO-The Reference and User Services Association (RUSA) has selected Bergis Jules as its Spectrum Scholar Intern for 2009. Jules, a 2008 Spectrum Scholar, is pursuing dual master's degrees with the School of Library and Information Science (http://www.slis.indiana.edu/) and the Department of African American and African Diaspora Studies, Indiana University at Bloomington.
As an intern with RUSA, Jules will work for a year and a half with RUSA's vice-president/president-elect, Neal Wyatt. He will receive $3,000 for travel expenses to attend the American Library Association's (ALA) Midwinter and Annual Conferences.
Jules has a Bachelor of Arts degree in African American and African Studies and a minor in Sociology and Anthropology from Earlham College, Richmond (Ind.). He is a reference services assistant and graduate supervisor at the Neal Marshall Black Culture Center Library (http://www.indiana.edu/~nmbcc/), processing assistant with the Liberian Archives Project (http://www.onliberia.org/) and a volunteer at the university's Black Film Center/Archive.
“I am thankful, because this internship will allow me to learn a great deal more about the library field in general and reference and collection development in particular, which are two areas of librarianship I am very interested in,” Jules said. “One of my career goals is to become a subject librarian for History or African American History, and I believe this out-of-classroom opportunity will be of tremendous value in achieving that goal.”
“I am very excited to have Bergis Jules work with me during my presidential year. The goals of the Spectrum Scholarship are shared by RUSA, and we have found the partnership to be deeply rewarding and enriching,” stated Neal Wyatt, RUSA president-elect. “I am looking forward to sharing with Bergis all the wonderful possibilities RUSA offers its members and involving him in my presidential initiatives.”
RUSA selects one Spectrum Scholar each year to receive the $3,000 travel grant and work with RUSA's vice president. The ALA Spectrum Initiative provides $5,000 scholarships to students from the following underrepresented groups: African American, Asian/Pacific Islander, Hispanic/Latino and Native American.
For more information on the Spectrum Initiative, please visit: www.ala.org/spectrum.
RUSA, the leading association for reference and user services professionals, is a division of the American Library Association.
