Spectrum Scholarship Program
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The Future is Overdue.
02/11/2025
Are you a library looking to expand your literacy impact within your community? Libraries are at the heart of community learning, and we’re excited to help them deepen or expand their literacy services! As part of the American Library Association’s Libraries as Literacy Centers Initiative, World Education is recruiting eight libraries across the nation to guide in achieving their literacy goals through professional learning, collaboration, and tailored technical assistance.
This initiative will leverage new Professional Learning Communities (PLCs), spaces for library professionals to network, share best practices, and access valuable resources. Our learning opportunities will focus on three key models:
📖 Libraries as Literacy Centers
🏫 Libraries as Places of Instruction
🤝 Libraries as Literacy Conveners
By the end of this program, participating libraries will walk away with customized resources, an action plan, expert support, and a stronger network of library collaborators. Want to learn more, join our informational webinar on February 19 at 3pm EST!
Register: https://jsi.zoom.us/meeting/register/EZdG2jWuRS2jOh8LaPr1AA #/registration
12/06/2024
New Scholar Spotlight 🔦
Head over to the Spectrum website to read Cindy Hohl (2016) in conversation with the Spectrum Advisory Committee for our November spotlight!
https://www.ala.org/intersections/2024/11/scholar-spotlight-cindy-hohl-2016-conversation-spectrum-advisory
09/12/2024
The State of Welcoming: 2024 Report – Welcoming America For 15 years, Welcoming America has worked with members and partners across the globe to build inclusive communities where everyone belongs. This inaugural State of Welcoming report highlights the history of our contributions to the welcoming movement, why welcoming matters, critical lessons learned...
06/28/2024
HAPPENING TOMORROW! Join us for the Freedom To Read-a-Thon at the American Library Association Annual Conference from 9am-4pm at the Marriott Marquis Grand Ballroom Section 01. Organized by Literacy Nation and EMIERT, this event celebrates the freedom to read and promotes access to diverse literature.
Participants can read from any genre that they choose for five minutes. The event will also feature authors, adding to the celebration of literature and storytelling. Proceeds from the event will support the Merritt Fund-which provides financial assistance to librarians, Literacy Nation and EMEIRT.
Click here to claim your Sponsored Listing.
Success through Community
Since 1997, the Spectrum Scholarship Program has provided critical funding, dynamic community building, and direct opportunities to collectively advance equity, diversity, and inclusion in the library/information science field to more than 1,100 library leaders from across the United States and Canada. Spectrum actively recruits and provides scholarships to American Indian/Alaska Native, Asian, Black/African American, Hispanic/Latino, Middle Eastern and North African, and/or Native Hawaiian/Other Pacific Islander students to assist them with obtaining a graduate degree and leadership positions within the profession and the American Library Association (ALA).
An initiative of ALA’s Office for Diversity, Literacy and Outreach Services, Spectrum provides funding to combat the rising cost of graduate education, fosters peer mentoring to help individuals at every step of their career, provides participants unique access to networking and continuing education, and builds a critical mass of professionals and LIS faculty invested in advancing social justice initiatives in library services and spaces. Each year, approximately 60 Scholars are selected to receive $5,000 towards educational expenses and an additional package valued at $1,500 for participation at the Spectrum Leadership Institute, held in conjunction with the ALA Annual Conference.
Opportunities as a Scholar extend far past a Scholar’s Institute year; indeed, a hallmark of the program are the relationships built within and across cohorts and the community of Scholars that has been 20 years in the making. Scholars often remark that Spectrum is a family - and we’d like to agree. And as any extended family knows, staying connected is vital to sustaining relationships and providing needed support. Through numerous Scholar resources, both virtual and in-person, both staff and Scholar-led, Spectrum alumni support one another and work to hold the door open for the next generation of library leaders of color.
Visit us online to learn more, follow us here and on Twitter, keep up with Scholar news, and consider donating to ensure the program’s continued success for the next 20 years and beyond.
Contact the organization
Website
Address
225 N Michigan Avenue Suite 1300
Chicago, IL
60601
