 |
 |
The Cleveland Museum of Art Joins Educational Partnership to Recruit Future Librarians with $553,000 Grant More than 150 librarians, educators, friends and supporters gathered on Dec. 1, 2010, at the Cleveland Botanical Garden to celebrate a unique educational partnership among the Ingalls Library of the Cleveland Museum of Art, the School of Library and Information Science at Kent State University and the libraries of 18 other educational, medical and cultural institutions in the University Circle area of Cleveland. The collaboration is the result of a federal grant of $522,908 awarded by the Institute of Museum and Library Services (IMLS), the primary source of federal funding for libraries and museums in the United States, to Kent State, the Cleveland Museum of Art and the libraries of Case Western Reserve University as well as nine other library partners. It will give 72 college undergraduates a hands-on introduction to the library profession, particularly in specialized areas with a shortage of qualified people (e.g., art, health sciences, music and other specialized academic areas). Included with the Ingalls Library of The Cleveland Museum of Art in the partnership are the libraries and archives of the Cleveland Museum of Natural History, Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and Museum, Cleveland Botanical Garden, Western Reserve Historical Society, Cleveland Clinic, Cleveland Institute of Art, Cleveland Institute of Music, Cleveland Orchestra, Siegal College of Judaic Studies, Case Western Reserve University (CWRU) School of Law, CWRU School of Medicine, CWRU Mandel School of Applied Social Sciences and six distinct areas within the Kelvin Smith Library at CWRU. Greg Byerly, Ph.D., associate professor in Kent State's School of Library and Information Science and a co-director of the project, said the project will have a national impact as the partners create a model recruitment plan for attracting undergraduate college students, particularly minorities, to the library profession. "For several years, the directors of the libraries and archives in these cultural, educational and medical institutions have been concerned about the need to recruit qualified people with appropriate background to become librarians, especially in the specialized areas they represent," Byerly said, "and especially as there will be a great need for librarians when the baby boom generation retires in large numbers over the next 10 to 20 years." The partnership with The Ingalls Library of The Cleveland Museum of Art and the libraries of the other University Circle museums and institutions also will help boost Kent State's new museum studies specialization in the School of Library and Information Science, Byerly said. Initial recruitment efforts will target juniors and seniors at five different Northeast Ohio colleges and universities, although additional institutions will be added later. Over the three years of the grant, four cohorts of undergraduate students will take two three-credit courses, one each sequentially over two semesters. The first course will introduce students to the profession, particularly academic and special libraries, and the second will include a 100-hour supervised internship in the Ingalls Library of The Cleveland Museum of Art or one of the other 18 partner libraries. The grant covers tuition costs for the courses, which will be provided online by Kent State's School of Library and Information Science. Students will be able to transfer the six undergraduate credit hours from Kent State to their home institutions. Staff at the various University Circle libraries will assist in developing Kent State's new museum studies program, and some will serve as adjunct faculty. Kent State President Dr. Lester A. Lefton said, "This important partnership demonstrates Kent State's ongoing commitment to enhancing the educational and cultural life of northeast Ohio. Our nationally renowned leadership in the library and information science profession, together with new programs that address specific needs, serves as an outstanding example of how Kent State puts 'excellence in action.'" For more information about the Ingalls Library of The Cleveland Museum of Art, visit http://library.clevelandart.org/. Betsy Lantz, Director of Library and Archives Ingalls Library The Cleveland Museum of Art 11150 East Boulevard Cleveland, Ohio 44106 216-707-2538 Fax: 216-421-0921 [log in to unmask]<mailto:[log in to unmask]> ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Mail submissions to [log in to unmask] For information about joining ARLIS/NA see: http://www.arlisna.org/join.html Send administrative matters (file requests, subscription requests, etc) to [log in to unmask] ARLIS-L Archives and subscription maintenance: http://lsv.arlisna.org Questions may be addressed to list owner (Judy Dyki) at: [log in to unmask] ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~