SLISters:

 ALA is just around the corner.  If you are in Chicago, please join us at the  LSU SLIS reunion.   Share this news with other SLIS grads, too. 

Sunday, June 30, 2013

5:30 p.m. – 7:30 p.m.

Hilton Chicago Hotel

International Ballroom South

Dr. Beth Paskoff, Director

The LSU College of Human Sciences and Education, which includes the School of Library & Information Science, has selected Dr. Alma Dawson to receive the first Advocate for Diversity Award.  This honor was presented to Dr. Dawson at the College Awards Dinner on Thursday, May 9, 2013. 

“Cameron Parish is still rebuilding and recovering from the devastation,” said August 2011 MLIS graduate Melony LeMay. “When the hurricanes were about to hit the Gulf Coast, files were hurriedly gathered and placed in boxes and evacuated. These files were stored but had never been organized. The information the boxes contained was needed to complete the FEMA reimbursement process and locate historical information. I helped sort, weed, label and organize these files and records into new folders and plastic boxes for library archiving purposes. I found some unexpected treasures such as writings of school children and vintage photographs of Cameron Parish.”

“It was enlightening to see firsthand how Cameron Parish is rebuilding their public libraries,” LeMay added. “Four out of six of the Cameron Parish Libraries were damaged or completely destroyed. I believe that my Project Recovery work was helpful in the hurricane recovery efforts in Cameron Parish. It was rewarding to do something so important and worthwhile.”

In exchange for 10 hours of work per week, and an agreement to work in a partner library for at least two years following graduation, each Project Recovery student was awarded full-paid tuition and fees, paid memberships to the Louisiana Library Association and American Library Association, a $12,000 stipend for full-time students and a $1,200 stipend for part-time students.

“When I entered the MLIS program, I had no formal experience in libraries,” said August 2012 MLIS graduate Adrienne Johnson. “As a full time Project Recovery scholar, however, I was given the opportunity to spend 10 hours a week working on special service projects with the grant’s partner libraries. These service projects afforded me a great deal of experience, which would have otherwise been difficult to come by. My experiences supplemented my formal education in immeasurable ways and instilled in me the skills and experience necessary to become a confident and competent librarian.”

“Thanks to the two years I spent volunteering with the New Orleans Public Library, I was hired as a librarian at the brand-new Algiers Regional branch two months before I actually completed my MLIS program and obtained my degree. Without all the opportunities that Project Recovery and its partner libraries provided me, I would never have been able to achieve this,” said Johnson.

“I feel extremely fortunate to have been a part of the Project Recovery Program. The combination of academic and real world experience provided me a strong foundation of skills and knowledge that made the transition between graduate school and the library profession smooth and easy,” Johnson said.
Project Recovery is in its final phase, which includes a follow-up meeting of scholars and report, and will wrap up by late 2013.

For more information about Project Recovery, visit http://slis.lsu.edu/projectrecovery/.