> PRESS RELEASE FROM THE FEDERAL INSTITUTE OF MUSEUM AND LIBRARY SERVICES
>
> FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE--July 18, 2000
>
> Press Contact:  202-606-8339
>
> Eileen Maxwell: [log in to unmask]
>
> IMLS Funds Professional Library Education and Training
>
> Washington, D.C.- The Institute of Museum and Library Services (IMLS), the
> Federal agency that lends support to the nation's museums and libraries,
> announced today the first round of its National Leadership Grants to
> Libraries for fiscal year 2000.  (See attached list.)
>
> The Institute of Museum and Library Services awards National Leadership
> Grants for Libraries to enhance the quality of library services
> nationwide.  Winning projects provide creative solutions to issues of
> national importance and provide leadership models for other organizations
> to emulate.
>
> There are four categories of funding through IMLS' National Leadership
> Grants for Libraries.  The Education and Training category supports
> professional development for librarians as well as recruitment and
> education of new librarians through graduate fellowships, traineeships,
> institutes, and other programs.
>
> Among the projects selected for funding are distance education at the
> master's and bachelor's degree level, recruitment of librarians from
> non-traditional backgrounds to enhance library services to diverse users,
> and projects to develop alternative models for funding of graduate library
> education.
>
> An accelerated rate of retirement, compounded with an increase of newly
> created jobs in the field, has created a critical shortage of librarians.*
> "The grant projects IMLS announces today offer innovative approaches to
> recruiting more library students and promoting specialization in much-
> needed areas of study, such as school library media, new technologies, and
> services to rural communities," said Beverly Sheppard, Acting Director of
> the Institute of Museum and Library Services.  Sheppard added that some
> projects will offer employment to students during their academic training,
> providing useful skills as well as opportunities for the grants to become
> self-sustaining.
>
> IMLS is announcing Education and Training awards in the summer for the
> first time in order to respond to educators' requests that grant funds be
> available at the beginning of the academic year.
> The other three categories of funding, to be announced in September 2000,
> are:
>
> Research and Demonstration projects that emphasize access to improved
> library and information resources.
>
> Preservation or Digitization of Library Materials projects that preserve
> unique library resources useful for the broader research community or that
> address the challenges of preserving and archiving digital materials.
>
> Model Programs of Library and Museum cooperation between libraries and
> museums with emphasis on how the community is served, technology is used,
> or education is enhanced.
>
> About the Institute of Museum and Library Service (IMLS) - IMLS is an
> independent Federal agency that fosters leadership, innovation, and a
> lifetime of learning by supporting the nation's museums and libraries.
> Created by the Museum and Library Services Act of 1996, P.L. 104-208, IMLS
> has an annual budget of $190 million.  For more information, including
> grant applications, contact IMLS at www.imls.gov.
>
> *The May 2000 issue of Library Journal Magazine reports that 40% of
> librarians say they will retire in nine years or less.  And, a recent
> informal
>
> **************************************************************************
> ****************************
> Institute of Museum and Library Services
>
> 2000 National Leadership Grants for Libraries:
>
> Education and Training Awards
>
> Association of Research Libraries, Washington, DC , $91,879
> Contact:  DeEtta Jones - (202) 296-2296
> This one-year project will use the Online Lyceum developed by ARL as a
> vehicle for delivering distance education of ARL's new Leadership and
> Career Development Program curriculum, which is designed to help minority
> librarians compete more effectively for leadership positions in research
> libraries.
>
> University of South Florida (Tampa Campus Library), Tampa, FL, $183,660
>
> Contact:  Ilene Frank - (831) 974-2483
>
> This two-year project will employ 12 Graduate Assistants enrolled in the
> School of Library and Information Science to develop and teach information
> literacy to 300 freshman enrolled in USF's Learning Communities Program.
>
> University of Kentucky, Lexington, KY, $210,145
>
> Contact:  Martha Birchfield - (606) 257-4872
>
> A two-year project to develop a comprehensive system of distance learning
> undergraduate education courses in library and information science.
>
> Maryland State Department of Education, Baltimore, MD, $246,994
>
> Contact:  Gail Bailey - (410) 767-0451
>
> A two-year project, in partnership with the University of Maryland College
> Park and the Prince George's County Public School System, to recruit and
> train school library media specialists by establishing Professional
> Development Schools (PDS) in two high schools with model school library
> media programs.
>
> Detroit Public Schools Library Media Education Office, Detroit, MI,
> $163,728
>
> Contact:  Angela McKissic-Samuels - (313) 494-1622
>
> A two-year project, in partnership with the Wayne State University Library
> and Information Science Program, to reopen 10 closed school libraries and
> to train 20 teachers from diverse cultural backgrounds as school library
> media specialists to meet a critical shortage in an urban school district.
>
>
> Oberlin College, Oberlin, OH , $139,732
>
> Contact:  Ray English - (440) 775-8285
>
> A two-year project to establish a program for recruiting students into the
> library profession by offering undergraduate fellowships and graduate
> internships in combination with mentoring by library staff and work
> experience in the college library.
>
> Drexel University College of Information Science and Technology,
> Philadelphia, PA, $249,629
>
> Contact:  Jacqueline Mancal - (215) 895-2473
>
> A two-year project, in partnership with the State library agency of
> Pennsylvania, to provide professional development in new technologies for
> school and public librarians in order to develop collaborative approaches
> to educating learners for the 21st Century.
>
> University of Rhode Island, Kingston, RI, $232,646
> Contact:  W. Michael Havener - (401) 874-4641
> This two-year project will recruit six Fellows from diverse backgrounds,
> support them in a program of study to complete the master's degree at the
> University of Rhode Island Graduate School of Library and Information
> Studies, and involve them in developing programs to prepare librarians to
> work with diverse populations and to provide culturally sensitive
> information literacy instruction.
>
> University of Tennessee, Knoxville, TN, $151,192
> Contact:  Elizabeth Aversa - (865) 974-2148
> A two-year project to recruit, support, and mentor ten selected students
> from underrepresented groups through a part-time, technology-mediated
> distance education program designed for adult learners who are unable to
> leave their homes and/or employment to earn first professional degrees.
>
> University of North Texas, Denton, TX  $425,769
>
> Contact:  Samantha Hastings - (940) 565-4538
>
> A two-year project, in partnership with the Denton Public Library System,
> the African American Museum in Dallas, and the Dallas Museum of Art, to
> produce expert managers of digital images and information through three
> academic programs: Masters of Library Science with a specialty in Digital
> Image Management, Certificate of Advanced Study, or interdisciplinary
> Information

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