IMLS Grants to Bolster Library Education and Library Programs

The Institute of Museum and Library Services, a federal program, has awarded grants totaling $20.3-million to 31 institutions to train librarians and to support library programs across the country. The grants, which were announced last week, are going mostly to colleges and universities.

In Pennsylvania, there were two awards given:

Drexel University - Philadelphia, PA
Grant Category: Research
Award Amount: $224,386; Matching Amount: $42,086
Contact: Dr. Jung-ran ParkAssistant Professor(215)899-1669; jung-ran.park@ischool.drexel.edu
Project Title: "Modeling Interpersonal Discourse for Digital Information Service: Evaluation of the Question-Answering Service of the Internet Public Library"
This Early Career Development grant will provide support for Assistant Professor Jung-ran Park to analyze interpersonal communication between librarians and the public in digital information service. Using transcripts from the Internet Public Library’s Question Answering Service, the researcher will study patterns of communication employed by librarians and the public in their email and real-time chat interactions and provide an empirical model for assessing the impact of interpersonal communication on successful digital information reference. Such a study carries the potential to enhance one of digital librarianship’s core skill sets.

Carnegie Library of Pittsburgh - Pittsburgh, PA
Grant Category: Continuing Education
Award Amount: $391,400; Matching Amount: $418,061
Contact: Mr. Paul VanderwielDirector, Human Resourcesvanderwielp@carnegielibrary.org
Project Title: "Management Skills Workshop"
Carnegie Library of Pittsburgh will conduct a staff development program that identifies and nurtures future leaders within the library's ranks in a year-long professional development program. Graduates of this program then enter a second tier of training that develops executive leadership skills and teaches nonprofit management skills. At the end of this three-year project they will produce a case study and educational training materials based on this model that will be available to other libraries.