University of Illinois waives tuition for Spectrum scholars

Contact: Gwendolyn Prellwitz


Acting Director, ALA Office for Diversity


(312) 280-5048


gprellwitz@ala.org

NEWS


For Immediate Release


November 18, 2008

CHICAGO - The University of Illinois at Urbana - Champaign Graduate School of Library and Information Science (GSLIS) will waive tuition for all of its 2008 American Library Association (ALA) Spectrum Scholarship winners.

The five scholars attending the university for the 2008-2009 school year, Harriet Elizabeth Green, Deana L. Greenfield, Hanna Lee, Laksamee Putnam, and Roy Saldaña Jr., represent the largest number of Spectrum Scholars to attend the University of Illinois yet.

The university has offered full tuition waivers for all Spectrum recipients in its GSLIS since 1999.

Established in 1997, the Spectrum Scholarship Program has become one of the most important drivers of diversity in the library profession. The program recruits and awards scholarships for graduate programs in library and information studies to students from five professionally under-represented groups: American Indian/Alaska Native, Asian, Black/African American, Hispanic/Latino or Native Hawaiian and other Pacific Islander. To date Spectrum has provided a one-year $5,000 scholarship and more than $1,500 in professional development opportunities to 564 graduate students. Former Spectrum scholars now serve on ALA Council and numerous professional committees; head branches and departments of public and academic libraries; work in and manage law, medical and special libraries; lead efforts to explore and integrate new technologies; and find numerous ways to give back to the profession and promote librarianship at large.

The University of Illinois GSLIS support of its Spectrum recipients greatly bolsters the Spectrum Scholarship Program’s ability to attract and retain talented students under-represented in the library and information science profession. To learn more about the Graduate School of Library and Information science, please visit http://www.lis.uiuc.edu.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.