Public Librarian will bike, swim and run for Spectrum Scholarship Program
Contact: Gwendolyn Prellwitz
Acting Director, ALA Office for Diversity
(312) 280-5048
gprellwitz@ala.org
NEWS
For Immediate Release
May 13, 2008
Public Librarian will bike, swim and run for Spectrum Scholarship Program
CHICAGO – Miriam Tuliao, coordinator of Adult and Reference Services for the New York Public Library, announced that she will participate in the New Jersey State Triathlon to raise awareness and funds for the Spectrum Scholarship Program of the American Library Association (ALA). The race consists of a 1.5k swim, a 23-mile bike ride, and a 10k run. The event will take place July 27.
The Spectrum Scholarship Program’s major drive is to recruit applicants and award scholarships to American Indian/Alaska Native, Asian, Black/African American, Hispanic/Latino or Native Hawaiian and other Pacific Islander students. Spectrum provides a one-year $5,000 scholarship and more than $1,500 in professional development opportunities to eligible students planning to attend an ALA-accredited graduate program in library and information studies or a school library media program. There have been 495 scholarships awarded through the Spectrum Scholarship Program to date.
The mission of the American Library Association Spectrum Scholarship Program is: “Improving service at the local level through the development of a representative workforce that reflects the communities served by all libraries in the new millennium.”
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.
“As a public librarian, I am mindful of the pressing need to develop collections that reflect the interests of diverse communities,” said Tuliao. “Moreover, I will swim, bike and run in honor of three dynamic library and information science educators: Kay Cassell, assistant professor, Rutgers University; Kathleen de la Peña McCook, distinguished university professor, University of South Florida; and Andrea Japzon, adjunct faculty, University of Maryland. Individually and collectively, they have inspired many of us to be proactive, inclusive and compassionate library leaders. Through their daily work, they remind us to lift as we climb.”
Please join Tuliao in contributing to the Spectrum Scholarship by sending a check or pledge to: ALA Development Office, Spectrum, 50 E. Huron St., Chicago, IL, 60611. Please make checks payable to the ALA Spectrum, memo Tuliao New Jersey Triathlon.
To learn more about the Spectrum Scholarship Program, please visit:
www.ala.org/spectrum or contact Gwendolyn Prellwitz at (312) 280-5048,
gprellwitz@ala.org.
