Intellectual Freedom Course & Scholarship for LIS Students

FTRF GSLIS

The Freedom to Read Foundation (FTRF) and the Graduate School of Library and Information Science (GSLIS) at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign (Illinois) are pleased to announce a partnership to offer an online graduate-level course on intellectual freedom for library and information science (LIS) students around the country. The course, in its third year, will be taught by GSLIS professor Emily Knox, who was awarded a 2015 Instructor of the Year award by the WISE (Web-based Information Science Education) consortium for the course. It is a project of the Judith F. Krug Memorial Fund.

“Intellectual Freedom and Censorship” is a 2-credit course and will meet online Tuesdays August 23–October 11, 2016. It is open to any student enrolled in an LIS degree program. As part of the collaboration, Freedom to Read Foundation staff and volunteers will lend their expertise as guest speakers, and FTRF and ALA Office for Intellectual Freedom archival materials will be made available to students.

“Our culture is at a tipping point, a shift in its tolerance for the First Amendment. It is imperative that today’s library students have a deep and thoughtful exposure to the value of free speech. And who better to receive it from than the 2015 WISE instructor of the year?” said James LaRue, Director of the Office for Intellectual Freedom and the Freedom to Read Foundation.

“I’m excited to teach the intellectual freedom and censorship class again this Fall,” said Professor Emily Knox. “The course is one of the highlights of my semester. I, like the students, enjoy listening and learning from our weekly speakers and I love our spirited class discussions.”

To encourage students outside the University of Illinois to participate, FTRF is offering four half-scholarships ($700 each). Applications for the scholarships are due May 2, 2016. For more information and to apply for the scholarship visit www.ftrf.org/?Krug_Education

Students enrolled in programs affiliated with the WISE consortium will be provided course credit automatically upon completion of the course. Others will need to coordinate course credit with their home institution.

For more information and questions regarding registration please contact: Karla Lucht at U of I, klucht@illinois.edu, 217-244-3810, or staff at the Freedom to Read Foundation, FTRF@ALA.org or 312-280-4226.

For information about technology used for online education at U of I please see: http://www.lis.illinois.edu/academics/itd/welcome.

The Freedom to Read Foundation (www.ftrf.org) is a First Amendment legal defense and education organization affiliated with the American Library Association. In 2009, following the death of its founding executive director Judith Krug, FTRF created the Judith Krug Memorial Fund. The Krug Fund has two purposes: to support Banned Books Week via event grants to organizations, and to provide intellectual freedom education. For more information on the Krug Fund, or to make a donation to support its work, please visit www.ftrf.org/?Krug_Fund.

The Graduate School of Library and Information Science at Illinois (http://www.lis.illinois.edu) is the premier LIS program in the nation, consistently ranked number one by U.S. News and World Report. We offer advanced degrees with areas of specialization including data curation, digital libraries, social and community informatics, socio-technical data analytics, and youth services as well as continuing professional development opportunities. Courses are available both on campus and online.

ALA Scholarships

The American Library Association (ALA) has more than $300,000 for students who are studying library science or school librarianship at the master’s degree level. Scholarships typically range from $1,500 to $7,000 per student per year. The application and instructions are available on-line at www.ala.org/scholarships. The application deadline is March 8, 2011.

There are many types of scholarships available for the study of librarianship. These include scholarships for students who are interested in children’s librarianship, youth librarianship, federal librarianship, new media and library automation. In addition, there are also scholarships available for minorities, persons with disabilities and for people who are already employed in libraries but do not have an MLS.

To be considered for one of these scholarships, applicants must attend a masters program in library and information science that has been accredited by the ALA. Applicants interested in school librarianship must attend a program that meets ALA curriculum guidelines for the National Council for Accreditation of Teacher Education (NCATE). Complete guidelines and instructions are available on the website.

The scholarship process is open annually from October through March. For more information, visit www.ala.org/scholarships or call the ALA Scholarship Clearinghouse at (800) 545-2433, ext. 4279.

Need additional financial assistance? The 2011 Financial Assistance for Library and Information Studies Directory is an annual directory of awards from state library agencies, national and state library associations, local libraries, academic institutions and foundations that give some form of financial assistance for undergraduate and/or graduate education programs in library and information studies. The directory is available online at www.ala.org/falis. (Copied from Washington State Library’s October 28, 2010 Update e-newsletter)

EBSCO offers five scholarships to attend 2010 ALA Midwinter Meeting

EBSCO offers five scholarships to attend 2010 ALA Midwinter Meeting
CHICAGO – The American Library Association (ALA) and EBSCO are partnering to offer five scholarships for librarians to attend the 2010 ALA Midwinter Meeting in Boston. The meeting takes place Jan. 15-19, 2010, and offers an opportunity for continuing education, meetings and interaction with colleagues.
Each EBSCO scholarship will be in the amount of $1,500, and one of the five scholarships will be awarded to a first-time conference attendee. The scholarship money is to be used for conference registration, travel and expenses.
Deadline for entry is Nov. 23, 2009, and the application information can be found at:

http://www.ala.org/ala/awardsgrants/awardsrecords/ebscosponsorship/ebscosponsorship.cfm


Scholarship recipients will be notified no later than Dec. 15, 2009.

To apply, candidates must complete the application criteria and submit an essay that answers the following question: “What do you believe to be the biggest challenge in managing electronic resources in libraries today, and what solutions do you envision?” Essays and applications will be judged by a jury designated by ALA.

About EBSCO
EBSCO is the world’s premier full-service provider of information, offering a portfolio of services that spans the realm of print and electronic subscription access and management, research databases and more. The company’s e-resource renewal and management tools help librarians accomplish in hours what once took weeks. For more information, please visit www.ebsco.com .
Contact: Cheryl Malden
ALA Governance Office
(312) 280-3247
cmalden@ala.org

American Library Association
American Library Association