Institute of Museum and Library Services (IMLS) Grant
CLIS and the District of Columbia Public Schools: Partners in School Reform
The Institute of Museum and Library Services (IMLS) recognizes the catalytic role of the library media center in today's schools, particularly those in urban settings. In 2003, IMLS granted almost $10 million to 27 projects selected from 76 applications to its "Recruiting and Educating Librarians for the 21st Century" grant program. A half dozen of these projects specifically target the preparation of library media specialists. One of these is enabling CLIS to recruit and educate eight current District of Columbia Public Schools (DCPS) employees to earn their MLS degrees with a specialization in School Library Media so that they can become library media specialists in the DCPS.
IMLS's $209,026 grant to CLIS is providing full-tuition stipends to enable the DCPS Partnership students to take one course a semester (and 2 each summer) for three years. Candidates will continue working for the DCPS throughout their studies and will return to DCPS for at least three years after graduation. Recruitment efforts began shortly after the grant was announced in October 2003, and recipients of the stipends were selected in June 2004 after CLIS and DCPS staff interviewed candidates who had already been admitted to the College for the Fall 2004 semester.
In the fall of 2004, the DCPS Partners took their first course - LBSC 640, the introduction to the school library media field. In the fall of 2007, they will take their places as newly minted library media specialists in the DCPS.
Biography || School Library Media Program || Courses || IMLS Grant || Ongoing Research
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Contact Dr. Neuman:
College of Information Studies
Room 4121J Hornbake
University of Maryland
College Park, MD 20742-4345
Telephone: (301)405-2054
Fax: (301)314-9145
E-Mail: dneuman@umd.edu