Professional Education for Small Community Librarians

Please note that the partners in this project are TWU SLIS, TLA and TSLAC, not individual systems. For more information contact Dr. Robert S. Martin or Dr. Ling Hwey Jeng at 940/ 898-2602.

PRESS RELEASE

TWU School of Library and Information Studies receives nearly $730,000 for Professional Education for Librarians in Small Communities (PELSC) project
6/21/07

DENTON - The Texas Woman's University School of Library and Information Studies has received a grant of $691,323 from the Institute of Museum and Library Services and a second grant of $38,400 from Tocker Foundation to implement its Professional Education for Librarians in Small Communities
(PELSC) project.

TWU, the Texas Library Association and the Texas State Library and Archives Commission will provide a matching amount of $442,074 in both cash and in-kind services for the project.

The PELSC project offers an online degree program that will enable library workers currently serving in small and rural communities throughout Texas to earn a master's degree in library science. The project will provide full support for tuition, fees and travel stipends. Participants will form a cohort and be assisted throughout their study by mentors who are professional librarians in public libraries in Texas.

"We are extremely excited about the PELSC project," said Dr. Robert Martin, the Lillian Bradshaw Professor of Library Science at TWU and the principal investigator of the project. "This truly leverages the potential for online learning at the advanced degree level, and builds on what the State Library has already accomplished with its Small Library Management Training Program."

The Small Library Management Training Program (SLMTP), administered by the Texas State Library and Archives Commission, provides management skills to non-MLS library staff of small community libraries in Texas. Eligible applicants for the PELSC project must have completed the SLMTP or be on schedule to complete it by the first semester of their study. Participants in the PELSC project will be required to attend an orientation event at the beginning of their program, and are expected to receive their degree in two calendar years.

More than three-quarters of the public libraries in Texas serve communities with populations of fewer than 25,000. Few of these libraries are managed by a professional librarian - one having earned a master's degree from a program accredited by the American Library Association.

"This program will result in a significant improvement of the management of libraries serving small communities," said Dr. Ling Hwey Jeng, director of TWU's School of Library and Information Studies and co-principal investigator of the project. "That means better library services for people living in small communities, and more effective use of public resources in those communities."

The grant period begins July 1, 2007 and continues through June 30, 2010.

For more information on the PELSC project at TWU, contact Dr. Robert S.
Martin or Dr. Ling Hwey Jeng at (940) 898-2602.

The Institute of Museum and Library Services 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.

The purpose of the Tocker Foundation is to distribute funds principally for the support, encouragement and assistance to small rural libraries in Texas.

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