by Jill Elish
Dec. 1, 2006
TALLAHASSEE, FL — The Florida State University College of Information has awarded fellowships to 30 Florida teachers to help fill a shortage of school library media specialists.
“Project LEAD: School Library Media Specialists for the 21st Century: Leaders Educated to Make a Difference” was developed by College of Information Professors Nancy Everhart and Eliza T. Dresang. The pair received $1.3 million in grants from the Institute of Museum and Library Services’ 2006 Laura Bush 21st Century Librarian Program and FSU to fund the fellowship program, which will allow the teachers to earn master’s degrees in library and information studies.
The 30 fellowship recipients and 12 alternates are from Broward, Gadsden, Leon, Pinellas, Polk and Santa Rosa counties. The counties were selected because they are representative of Florida demographics in regard to location, size, minority population and student achievement, according to Everhart. School media supervisors in each district assisted in identifying potential candidates. Two of the fellowships were designated for teachers who graduated from Florida A&M University, a partner with FSU on this project.
“The selection process for these fellowships was intense,” Everhart said. “Each of the candidates had to provide examples of their leadership as teachers, be evaluated and recommended by his or her principal, answer a series of questions and write an essay on school library leadership. They also had to meet the academic requirements of FSU and the College of Information. We feel that we have identified an outstanding cohort of future leaders for our profession.”
The two-and-a-half-year program begins in January 2007. The participants will complete FSU’s online master’s degree program and will obtain Florida certification as school library media specialists. They also will attend two summer leadership workshops at FSU and receive funding that will allow them to make presentations or volunteer at state and national school media conferences.
All “Project LEAD” graduates will be placed in school media positions upon completion of the program and will be prepared to achieve certification from the National Board for Professional Teaching Standards (NBPTS) early in their school library media careers.
“Project LEAD is the only known program in the nation that incorporates NBPTS principles into its school library media curriculum,” Dresang said. “National board certification takes a year of preparation and is extremely difficult to obtain. Currently only 1.3 percent of library media specialists in the United States are board certified.”
The IMLS 2006 Laura Bush 21st Century Librarian Program earmarks funds for U.S. universities, libraries and library organizations to recruit and educate librarians. The purpose of the grant program is to help fill a shortage of school library media specialists, library school faculty and librarians working underserved communities across the nation.
The Project LEAD fellows are:
BROWARD COUNTY: Vicki Briner-Wattles, Michelle Gunning, Paula Northridge, Karina Raimont, Mark Schipani, Donna Thompson
FLORIDA A & M UNIVERSITY: Pamela Monroe, Kenya Nnaji
GADSDEN COUNTY: Heather Garcia, Kecia Hills, Bobby Hopkins,
Parish Williams
LEON COUNTY: Kathleen Malloy, Kathleen Murphy, Shanna Sadler,
Joanna Tamplin
PINELLAS COUNTY: Jodi Hooks, Sheila King-Baker, Jeannie Miller-Wallace, Raylee Milner, Lauren Powers, Andrea Sanchez
POLK COUNTY: Stacy Beck, Samuel Bilante, Robyn Ferguson, Constance Hoffmann, Saundra Jimmerson, Wendy Lopez
SANTA ROSA COUNTY: Denise Hudson, Kathleen Wallis
CONTACT: Nancy Everhart, (850) 644-8122; everhart@ci.fsu.edu
Eliza T. Dresang, (850) 644-5877; dresang@ci.fsu.edu