SLIS Students Attend the 2010 Spectrum Leadership Institute

Last week SLIS Graduate Assistants Alicia K. Long and Shalu Gillum, both 2009-2010 Spectrum Scholars, attended the Spectrum Leadership Institute in Washington, D.C.. Sessions focused on introducing attendees to the profession, fostering diversity within the library community, and building job skills.

Over 60 Spectrum Scholars and Reach 21 scholarship recipients also participated in an interactive mock interview, along with several networking opportunities. One of the highlights of the two and a half day event was the Professional Options Fair sponsored by OCLC.

Professional Options Fair at the Spectrum Institute

USF SLIS Spectrum Scholars Shalu Gillum and Alicia Long at the Spectrum Institute

McCook presents 2010 Dr. Jean E. Coleman Library Outreach Lecture

The School of Library and Information Science's own Professor Kathleen de la Pena McCook presented the 2010 Dr. Jean E. Coleman Library Outreach Lecture as part of this year's ALA Annual Conference in Washington D.C. In her lecture “Librarians and Human Rights” McCook explored the philosophical basis of librarians' commitment to human rights and human development as grounded in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR) and the Millennium Development Goals (MDG).

2010 Jean E. Coleman Outreach Lecture. 6. 28. 2010. People recognized for special commitment to the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. “Librarians and Human Rights”. 6. 28. 2010. Washington, D.C. Back Row: L to R: Satia Orange, past director of ALA OLOS- ;Dr. Cora P. Dunkley, USF-SLIS Professor and Coretta Scott King TF ;Barbara J. Ford, Mortenson Center distinguished professor, first Coleman lecturer and past.ALA President;Kathleen de la Pena McCook, 2010 Coleman Lecturer; distinguished university professor, University of South Florida, Beta Phi Mu,honoree, Futas honoree, Equality honoree. 2010 Coleman Lecturer “Librarians and Human Rights.” Bill McCook, 47 year member of United Brotherhood of Carpenters. Ann Sparanese, past Futas Honoree, Head of Adult and Young Adult Services, Englewood Public Library, NJ, Coleman Committee; Alicia Long, SPECTRUM Scholar at USF SLIS; Diane Austin, asst. director, USF,SLIS. Front Row: L-R Dr. Barbara Immroth, professor at UT-Austin,past president of ALSC, Beta Phi Mu honoree; Dr. Henrietta M. Smith, Professor Emerita, USF-SLIS, ALSC Honoree, Coretta Scott King TF; Dr. Alma Dawson, Russell Long professor at LSU,SLIS, Equality Award Honoree.
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More specifically, McCook described: instruments that provide the foundation for the librarians' role as primary promoters of the rights detailed in the UDHR and the MDG; international statements and declarations on peoples, regions, situations and specific rights; and the eighteen public library service responses used by the Public Library Association informed by a human rights philosophy and the IFLA Multicultural Manifesto. By presenting U.S. public library practice in comparison to the goals and guidelines of IFLA McCook provided U.S. public librarians with the context and documentation for the development of an expanded commitment to the service of human capabilities. The Jean E. Coleman Library Outreach Lecture is sponsored by ALA's Office of Literacy and Outreach Services (OLOS) and presented each year during the American Library Association's Annual Conference. Dr. Coleman was the first director of OLOS, and spent her career ensuring that all citizens have access to quality library services.

Kathleen de la Pena McCook is distinguished university professor at the School of Library and Information Science in Tampa; the author of “A Place at the Table: Libraries and Community Building” and “Introduction to Public Librarianship”; editor of the blog Union Librarian; and serves as a member of the Coordinating Council of the Progressive Librarians Guild. Previously, she served as chair of the ALA Office for Literacy and Outreach Services Advisory Committee. In 2002, McCook was honored by REFORMA, the National Association to Promote Library and Information Services to Latinos and the Spanish-speaking Community, as the recipient of the Trejo Librarian of the Year Award. She was the inaugural honoree of the ALA Office of Diversity's Achievement in Library Diversity Research in 2004. She has received the ALA Equality Award, the ALA Catalyst for Change Award and the Beta Phi Mu Teaching Award. Currently, Prof. McCook is working with Katharine J. Phoenix on developing a framework for public library services through the lens of human rights and human development. Prof. McCook's lecture, “Librarians and Human Rights”, took place on Monday, June 28, 2010 between 8:00-10:00am in the Washington Convention Center, Room 209 A/B. -VTZ

Meet our newest ALA Spectrum Scholar

Ms. Sylvia Martinez will begin full-time pursuit of her MLIS this fall at USF SLIS with the support of a Spectrum Scholarship from the American Library Association. Perhaps the best way to articulate the focus of this scholarship program is with ALA's description of it: "Established in 1997, the Spectrum Scholarship Program is ALA's national diversity and recruitment effort designed to address the specific issue of under-representation of critically needed ethnic librarians within the profession while serving as a model for ways to bring attention to larger diversity issues in the future."[1]

Sylvia Martinez is USF SLIS's newest ALA Spectrum Scholar

Serendipity is our good fortune
By the time Ms. Martinez experienced the blinding-flash-of-light moment resulting in her determination to become a librarian, most scholarship application deadlines had already passed. In exploring the resources listed through the SLIS Web presence, the ALA Spectrum Scholarship was one of the few still accepting applications for the coming academic year. Sylvia's challenge is our good fortune. We get to enjoy both her collegiality and our collaborative service to ALA in pursuit of the mission of this program.

Sylvia moved to the Tampa Bay area a few years ago after 11 years of teaching public school in the Minneapolis area. She reports that during this time she was “always jealous of the librarians!” (She punctuates this statement with laughter.) Her favorite assignment with her students was taking them to the library to learn how to do research, which she also enjoys. During her summer breaks she regularly convinced an academic librarian friend to bring her along to work.

Ms. Martinez is playing her cards close to the vest for now and keeping her options open concerning her focus in librarianship. She's made a head start acclimating to our program by beginning with her first ever, totally on-line course. She reports very much enjoying Foundations with Professor Stephanie Race. And she reports valuable input from her advisor, Professor Scott Simon. But she also looks forward to meeting as many of her colleagues and SLIS faculty as possible. [AB, 6/22/2010]

She may be contacted through USF email at: sylviam@mail.usf.edu

USF SLIS Student Organizations New Web site

JThe USF SLIS Student Organizations has created a new Web site so students can view the ongoing events and happenings of the organizations. You are able to easily access all of the social networking pages for the organizations on the right side of the Web site. You can keep track of their future events with the calendar on the home page. They have a contact us link which displays bio information of the different officers in the student organizations.

If you have any suggestions or feedback, please feel free to e-mail the student organizations at slisstudentorgs@usf.edu

Globetrotting with Dr. Andrews

We hear about our faculty involvement with state and national organizations on a regular basis, but how about international efforts?

Before we start our fall 2010 academic term, Dr. James Andrews (Director of the USF School of Library and Information Science) will have traveled to Gothenburg (aka Göteborg), Sweden, to continue his participation in IFLA (the International Federation of Library Associations).

A cultural gathering at Gothenburg, Sweden

Dr. Andrews is Secretary of the Science and Technology Libraries Section of the Special Libraries Division. Their efforts this year will be focused toward continuing the initiatives begun during last summer's conference concerning Open Access. In fact the web page about the upcoming 76th IFLA Congress and General Assembly features the title: "Open access to knowledge - promoting sustainable progress."

While Dr. Andrews' agenda will include mediating panels and participating in the U.S. Caucus, he reports enjoying meeting colleagues from around the globe.

"Thus far, I have participated in WLISs in Durban, South Afr., Quebec City, Que., Milan, Italy…," said Dr. Andrews.

According to Dr. Andrews, the conference usually features special STL (Science and Technology Libraries) related tours in the host city. Our director also takes some pride in the fact that papers from some of his sessions have ended up as publications in the IFLA Journal.

For more information about IFLA, the Science and Technology Libraries Section, and the upcoming Conference see:
About IFLA
Science and Technology Libraries Section
STL newsletter
[AB, 6/15/2010]

USF SLIS Student Organizations Join Campaign for LSU SLIS

AThe Board of Governors at Louisiana State University (LSU) announced last month that they were considering closing its Library and Information Science (LIS) program, among others, due to budget cuts. This announcement prompted a quick mobilization of the School's faculty, staff, students, and alumni, all of whom intend to show the governors the need for the program, which constitutes the only library school in the state of Louisiana.

The University of South Florida's School of Library and Information Science (USF SLIS) Student Organizations are comprised of student chapters of professional organizations: the American Library Association (ALA), the American Society for Information Science & Technology (ASIST), and the Special Libraries Association (SLA). After learning about the events in Louisiana, the students in the organization realized that Florida's schools of Library Science, as well as those in other states, need to join forces with their Louisiana's peers in order to make a broader statement about the importance of schools that prepare information professionals.


The USF SLIS Student Organizations are developing a campaign to contact other student organizations in the nation and send a unified message on behalf of students.

For that reason...

The Student Organizations at USF SLIS are asking all of USF's students, alumni, and faculty to add your voices to the fight for librarianship:

"If you believe that schools of library and information science are not only important but vital for the cultural, educational, and social well-being of each state's communities, then let LSU's authorities know that in Florida we support LSU SLIS":

How?