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ARL is pleased to announce that a 2004 IMLS Recruiting and Educating Librarians for the 21st Century grant was awarded in the amount of $826,182 over three years to pilot the ARL Academy: Careers in Academic and Research Libraries initiative. ARL is partnering with three library schools—Catholic University of America, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, and Simmons College—to recruit, educate, and train 45 master’s-level students. The grant funding will, in large part, support student tuition, travel, and living costs associated with fellowships in ARL libraries.
Five master’s degree students from each of the partner schools will be selected annually for the ARL Academy. The criteria for selection includes having a master’s or professional degree and the potential for and interest in pursuing a career in academic and research libraries. As part of the ARL Academy, fellows will be immersed, through their M.L.I.S. programs, in the core philosophical and theoretical experiences necessary to successfully contribute to libraries at the professional level. Simultaneously, they will earn practical work experience in ARL libraries that will significantly increase their exposure, competence, and marketability upon graduation. A custom-designed five-day ARL Leadership Institute, designed to explore the opportunities and challenges facing academic and research libraries, will serve as the culminating event for each class of ARL Academy fellows.
The ARL Academy will contribute a significant number of individuals trained for leadership in academic and research libraries who also possess additional academic and professional credentials. The Academy, in building a mentoring relationship with mentors from ARL libraries, seeks to address the need to fill higher-level positions with experienced and skilled professionals, a concern that has arisen with the anticipated rate of retirement in the next 10 to 15 years.
For more information about the ARL Academy, please visit the website at http://www.arl.org/leadership/academy/index.shtml or contact DeEtta Jones, ARL Director of Organizational Learning Services, at deetta@arl.org.
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