$999,360 in federal aid received from Laura Bush 21st Century Librarian Program
The Library and Information Science Program in the Morgridge College of Education at the University of Denver and its partners, the Westminster Law Library and the Sturm College of Law, will recruit and educate ten new law librarians, known as the Law Librarian Fellows (LLF), thanks to a grant of $999,360 from the Federal Institute of Museum and Library Services (IMLS). The generous grant was one of 31 awards given to institutions nationwide as part of a $20.3 million initiative of the Laura Bush 21st Century Librarian Program.
"We are thrilled to have this funding for student fellowships and equally excited about the enormous potential for serving the law library community as well as the needs of rural lawyers," said Dr. Mary Stansbury, Library and Information Science Program Chair. "The grant will bring us law library fellows for two years and will permit the Westminster Law Library to work on outreach programs in Colorado with the Colorado Supreme Court," commented Beto Juárez, dean of the Sturm College of Law.
Partnering with law librarians on outreach initiatives from the State of Colorado Supreme Court Library, the law librarianship students will participate actively as members of the Rural and Small Practice Attorney Library Support Center (Support Center) at DU. They will be assigned a list of clients and provide legal reference, document retrieval, and other services under the guidance of WLL law librarians. Clients will include rural attorneys, academic and public libraries with legal collections, rural government agencies, and non-governmental legal organizations serving low-income individuals and families.
The 31 IMLS grantees will provide educational opportunities to library students and staff to strengthen Gulf Coast libraries; support school library media programs; increase the number of librarians, archivists, and library and information science professors; increase diversity in the library workforce; and strengthen that workforce to better meet the needs of users of all types of libraries. IMLS is the primary source of federal support for the nation?s 122,000 libraries and 17,500 museums. The Institute's mission is to create strong libraries and museums that connect people to information and ideas.
"Since the program began in 2003, the Laura Bush 21st Century Librarian Program has awarded more than $100 million to recruit and train the next generation of librarians. Whether working in public schools, colleges, or local public libraries, librarians are essential contributors toward student and community success," said Anne-Imelda M. Radice, Ph.D., IMLS Director.
Founded in 1864, the University of Denver is the oldest independent university in the Rocky Mountain region, and enrolls approximately 11,000 students, about half of whom are graduate students. The University Denver is classified as a Doctoral/Research Extensive University. The Morgridge College of Education is a dynamic community of learners that emphasizes and values faculty-student collaboration in teaching, learning and research. The Sturm College of Law has been fully accredited by the American Bar Association since 1928. The Library and Information Science Program received accreditation from the American Library Association in June 2004, and is one of seven units in the Morgridge College of Education.
For more information about the DU law librarianship initiative, contact Sylvia Hall-Ellis, Ph.D., Associate Professor, Library and Information Science Program (shellis@du.edu) or Stacey Bowers, J.D., MLIS, Access Services Librarian, Westminster Law Library (sbowers@law.du.edu). To have an information packet sent to you, please email edinfo@du.edu. To learn more about the Library and Information Science Program, please visit www.du.edu/LIS.
