PLA continues its support of Spectrum Presidential Initiative

For Immediate Release
Thu, 04/26/2012

Contact:

Amy Sargent

Manager, Marketing

Public Library Association (PLA)

1-800-545-2433 ext.5024

asargent@ala.org

CHICAGO — The Public Library Association (PLA) has reaffirmed its commitment to diversity in the library profession through a gift of $5,000 to the American Library Association’s (ALA) Spectrum Scholarship Program.  In recognition of PLA’s contributions to the Spectrum Presidential Initiative, a PLA Spectrum Scholarship will be designated in the June 2012 awards.  The PLA Spectrum Scholarship will be awarded to a Spectrum applicant who expresses an interest in public libraries.

ALA President Molly Raphael, Immediate Past President Roberta Stevens, ALA President-Elect Maureen Sullivan 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. PLA’s contributions will allow ALA to continue to support Master’s-level Spectrum Scholarships.

With this gift, PLA has donated more than $190,000 in direct support to the Spectrum Scholarship Program and more than $60,000 in support of Spectrum Scholars’ participation at PLA National Conferences, a clear demonstration of the association’s continued commitment to this important initiative.

The Public Library Association (PLA), with more than 11,000 members is one of the fastest growing divisions of the American Library Association (ALA), the oldest and largest library association in the world. PLA’s core purpose is to strengthen public libraries and their contribution to the communities they serve.

Founded in 1944, PLA is a member-driven organization that exists to provide a diverse program of communication, publication, advocacy, continuing education, and programming for its members and others interested in the advancement of public library service.  To learn more, please visit http://www.pla.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 700 scholarships to qualified applicants enrolled in an ALA-accredited graduate program in library and information studies or an AASL-recognized School Library 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