|
 The
Free Library of Philadelphia and the School of Information
Sciences will form a partnership supported by funding
from the Institute of Museum and Library Services (IMLS). In
June 2007, the IMLS awarded the Library $999,980 to
fund 25 students (over a two-year period) as they earn
their MLIS degrees via the FastTrack MLIS online education
program. FastTrack MLIS offers the ALA-accredited
master’s degree program through Web-based asynchronous
delivery. Students from more than 26 states have
participated in the on-line educational opportunity
since its inception; in fact, in 2005, IMLS funded
a similar partnership between the University of the
Virgin Islands and SIS.
The grant will be used to recruit and support 25 current
staff members at the Free Library as they earn their
MLIS degree. The staff members will be drawn from three
different applicant pools: full-time paraprofessional
staff; library interns; and part-time or seasonal staff. SIS
and the Free Library leadership will design a special
program of study that will focus on public librarianship,
with an emphasis on services to children and youth,
in an urban setting.
Project organizers hope that this program will do
more than just increase the number of minority librarians,
specifically youth librarians, working at the Free
Library. Additional goals of the program include
increasing the number of current and future library
leaders and growing their leadership skills through
a mentoring program and active participation in state
and national professional organizations. At
the end of the grant period, it is to be hoped that
the project will have created a replicable model for
an environment that supports community based librarians
that could be adopted by other library systems, particularly
those in large urban areas.
This grant is part of the IMLS’s multi-million
dollar initiative, LAURA BUSH 21ST CENTURY LIBRARIAN
PROGRAM to help offset a shortage of professional librarians
working in underserved communities. The Institute’s
approach to creating the next generation of librarians
is to support a wide variety of initiatives including
tuition assistance, curriculum development, service
expectations, job placement, recruitment of non-traditional
library students, and support of doctoral candidates
in the library sciences field.
Pitt’s MLIS degree program is ranked seventh
in the nation by U.S. News & World Report. Students
are admitted to the FastTrack MLIS program as a cohort
that will move through the program together, allowing
for peer interactions and support similar to that found
in the on-campus program. Students will participate
through asynchronous course delivery, real-time conferencing
with other students and the faculty, and face-to-face
learning experiences throughout the time of study.
For more information about the FastTrack MLIS program,
please visit http://fasttrack.sis.pitt.edu/. |
