Arkansas Library Association Supports Spectrum Presidential Initiative

Contact: Miguel A. Figueroa


Office for Diversity & Spectrum


312-280-5295


mfigueroa@ala.org

For Immediate Release


March 30, 2010

Chicago—The Arkansas Library Association (ArLA), a chapter of the American Library Association, has announced its support of the Spectrum Presidential Initiative with a contribution of $500. ArLA is the first chapter of the American Library Association to provide support to the Spectrum Presidential Initiative.

At the 2009 ALA Annual Conference, ALA President Dr. Camila Alire, Immediate Past President Jim Rettig, President-Elect Roberta Stevens and ALA Past President Dr. Betty J. Turock, chair of the initiative, announced the Spectrum Presidential Initiative, a special one-year 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. ArLA’s contribution will allow ALA to continue to support master’s-level Spectrum Scholarships and build the Spectrum Endowment.

Connie Zimmer, 2010 ArLA president, said of the gift, “We are proud to contribute to the Spectrum Scholarship Program. Diversity is a fundamental value of ArLA and its members and is reflected in its commitment to recruiting minorities and people with disabilities to the profession and to the promotion and development of library collections and services for all people.”

Founded in 1911, the Arkansas Library Association’s mission is to further the professional development of all library staff members; to foster communication and cooperation among librarians, trustees and friends of libraries; to increase the visibility of libraries among the general public and funding agencies; and to serve as an advocate for librarians and libraries. For more information about ArLA, visit
http://www.arlib.org.

The Spectrum Scholarship Program is ALA's national diversity and recruitment effort designed to address the specific issue of underrepresentation of critically needed ethnic librarians within the profession while serving as a model for ways to bring attention to larger diversity issues in the future. Since its founding, Spectrum has provided more than 600 scholarships to qualified applicants enrolled in an ALA-accredited graduate program in library and information studies or an ALA-recognized NCATE School Library Media 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.