February 26, 2003
Contact: Ron Cichowicz
[412/624-4007; cich@pitt.edu]

Pitt's School of Information Sciences Receives Grant to Fund Innovative Library Center

PITTSBURGH -The University of Pittsburgh School of Information Sciences (SIS) has received a $100,000 grant equally funded by the Pittsburgh Foundation and the Buhl Foundation to develop the Center for Advancement of Libraries for Learning, or CALL, under the direction of SIS Dean Ronald Larsen.

"This regional and national resource aims to explore and advance the role of libraries as dynamic partners in education and to promote learning actively and systematically," said Larsen. "I am delighted to add to the School of Information Sciences another pioneering, world-class program in library and information science."

CALL is an innovative education and information laboratory that will link with libraries and other educational institutions in the Pittsburgh region, across Pennsylvania, and beyond. CALL's mission is to connect and mobilize new practices and initiatives that benefit everyone, especially students of all ages, teachers, and librarians. Through an association with Libraries for the Future, a national organization that documents and supports innovative library development across the country, CALL also will extend its collaborations to leading academics and practitioners around the country.