SLIS Graduate Students at IUPUI Win National Honors
Over the past few years, over a dozen graduate students in the School of Library and Information Science at Indianapolis have won grants and scholarships from local and state organizations. The Indiana Library Federation (ILF) and the Association for Indiana Media Educators (AIME) have been generous with frequent support of SLIS students. During recent months, several SLIS students associated with the IUPUI program have been recognized with national awards. These honors represent a growing population of professional-minded graduate students in the Indianapolis program and a wide array of academic achievement.
- Teresa Kline from Valparaiso has won a scholarship from the Special Library Association (SLA).
- John McDonald from Connersville has been selected the "National School Library Media Specialist of the Year."
- Michael Butler-Harley has been granted a Spectrum Scholarship from the American Library Association (ALA).
Details on these and other recent awards won by SLIS students in the Indianapolis program are given below.
Congratulations to all.
Teresa L. Kline -- 2005 SLA Scholarship Recipient
SLA Scholarship
Teresa Lynn Kline received a Bachelors degree with high distinction from Indiana University and earned her J.D. from Valparaiso University School of Law. She is currently attending Library School at Indiana University, Purdue University School of Library Science at Indianapolis. She is a member of SLA, AALL, ALA and the Indiana State Bar. While working as a judicial clerk for three state trial court judges and maintaining the law library in the county courthouse, Teresa realized the need to obtain a formal library science education in order to properly run the library. Teresa says, "not only will a library science degree enhance performance in my current position, it will enable me to open more doors and give me a competitive edge professionally." She is eager to apply her library education to improve the library collection and move into a more digital library structure.
Bio
Teresa L. Kline is enrolled in the MLS program at the School of Library & Information Science, Indiana University Purdue University Indianapolis (IUPUI). She received her undergraduate degree from Indiana University and the Juris Doctor degree from Valparaiso University School of Law. While in law school, Ms. Kline worked as a Research Assistant. She also served as a Legal Intern in the City Attorney's Office in South Bend, Indiana where she was instrumental in developing the law library. Ms. Kline is currently the law clerk for three state trial judges in Goshen, Indiana and the librarian for the court law library. Her goal is to transform the existing library into a fully functioning and accessible county law library. There were two other SLA Scholarship recipients for 2005 - one from Syracuse University and the other from British Columbia.
Award Eligibility of Applicants
The SLA Scholarship will be granted only for graduate study in librarianship leading to a master's degree at a recognized school of library or information science. Up to three $6,000 SLA scholarships are available each year. Scholarship winners are notified in May. The official announcement and the award presentations are made at the Association's Annual Conference in June. Applicants must be college graduates or college seniors with an interest in special librarianship. Extra consideration shall be given to members of the Special Libraries Association and to persons who have worked in and for special libraries, but the scholarships are not restricted to these persons. Preference shall be given to those who display an aptitude for and interest in special library work. Applicants must submit a statement of provisional acceptance by a recognized library school or information science program. Matriculated school applicants must submit an official transcript of his/her library school record to date. Applicants must submit evidence of financial need.
John M. McDonald -- National and Indiana School Library Media Specialist of the Year
John M. McDonald, recent graduate of the master in library science (MLS) program at IUPUI, was honored at the National Conference of the American Library Association (ALA) this summer in Chicago as New School Library Media Specialist of the Year. He was also selected as the new school librarian of the year in Indiana.
John received the "Frances Henne Award", named for a leading figure in school media education from Columbia University. Professor Henne was also a national leader in promotion of quality literature for children. Her essays were some of the first to describe the need to teach information (literacy) skills in the public schools.
After several years of teaching in the elementary classroom, John became the school media specialist at Connersville, IN Middle School in 2003. He will serve as President-Elect of the Association for Indiana Media Educators (AIME) in 2006.
Penny Patterson, who also holds the MLS from Indiana University (1992), was selected 2005 Indiana school library media specialist of the year in the experienced section or division for over five years service. Penny will enter her sixth year at Hinkle Creek Elementary in Noblesville this fall. She has been a leader in AIME and has coordinated the programs for the state conference.
Two current SLIS IUPUI students in school media were recently named "Teacher of the Year" at their respective school corporations. Kim Kronk is the school library media specialist at LaSalle Intermediate Academy in South Bend and Erin Patton is a school library media specialist at Memorial Park Middle School, a Fine Arts Magnet School, in Fort Wayne.
Robyn Young, director of school media at Avon High School and graduate of SLIS, presented at the ALA national conference in Chicago this summer. Robyn received the Highsmith Research Award to investigate the impact of graphic novels on reading behavior. Marilyn Irwin, Associate Professor at SLIS, is her research advisor. This was the second Highsmith Award guided by Dr. Irwin.
Michael Butler-Harley - ALA Spectrum Scholarship
The American Library Association's (ALA) Office for Diversity has announced the eighth national cohort of Spectrum Scholarships. The program is a major drive to recruit students from ethnic minority groups - American Indian, Asian American, African American, Hispanic/Latino and Hawaiian. Each $5,000 scholarship is intended to help cover graduate school expenses. http://www.ala.org/ala/diversity/spectrum/spectruminitiative.htm
Among the 68 scholarship winners is Michael Butler-Harley, who will begin his graduate work through the Indianapolis program this fall. He is the first from Indiana University to be awarded a Spectrum Scholarship. Michael has worked in academic and public library settings at South Bend, IN. He holds a degree in secondary education from IU.
References wrote of Michael "He is the kind of person who truly relates well to co-workers... As our profession ages and we look to find replacements coming up from the younger generations, people like Michael fill me with confidence that librarianship will flourish in the coming years. He is flexible, tech-savvy, intelligent, hard-working and will be a welcome colleague in our field." Another wrote, "He is already making a substantial contribution in his community...he is thoughtful and reflective and is able to convey his insights with clarity and sensitivity."
Others receiving Spectrum Scholarships will be attending the University of Wisconsin at Madison, University of South Florida, University of Pittsburgh, University of Michigan, University of Washington, Florida State University, University of Texas at Austin and several other programs accredited by ALA. The Indiana University master's program in library science at Bloomington and at Indianapolis was recently re-accredited by ALA.
Efforts to encourage applications to the Spectrum Scholarship have been greatly enhanced by the SLIS Diversity Committee, chaired by Rhonda Spencer in Bloomington.
Mandy Havert and Natasha Sawatsky Kingsley - IUPUI University Graduate Fellowships
Two IUPUI SLIS students were awarded full graduate fellowships for 2005-2007. These are the first such awards in the Indianapolis program's history. Top applicants from all graduate programs are selected and include engineering, physics, medicine, education, history, fine arts, and other disciplines. Assistant professor Rachel Applegate, who represents SLIS on the IUPUI Graduate Affairs Council, helped to steer the SLIS applications through the process. A graduate fellowship includes tuition and other financial support over two years at approximately $25,000.
Natasha Rose Sawatsky-Kingsley is from Goshen, IN. She plans to enter public librarianship. Natasha holds a B.A. from Goshen College in English, history and religion and a master's degree from Mennonite Biblical Seminary in church history.
Mandy Havert is from South Bend and has been employed at the University of Notre Dame Library as a Technical Support Consultant and Analyst. Since 2004 she has been a member of the ALA New Leadership Development Committee. She has a strong interest in learning more about collection management and organizational management strategies. Mandy's B.A. is from Ball State University in history and Asian studies.
Gabriela Hysong - Scholarship Award from the Medical Library Association
Gabriela Hysong, in her second year as a graduate SLIS student at IUPUI, was recently awarded a scholarship to attend the Midwest Medical Library Association Conference in September. According to Elaine Skopelja, Chair of the Awards Committee, Gabriela is one of two recipients in the Midwest.
