iSchool Associate Professor Dr. Margaret Sullivan was awarded the Applied Research Grant from the Institute of Museum and Library Services. The funding from this grant will contribute towards a three-year research project about the hiring practices of social workers in public libraries.  

The Institute of Museum and Library Services is an independent federal agency that provides library grants, museum grants, policy development, and research to advance, support, and empower America’s museums, libraries, and related organizations.

The goals of Sullivan’s project include understanding the roles of social workers in libraries, identifying gaps, and examining how these reflect the needs of the communities they serve. She anticipates the project to result in a comprehensive database and literature on hiring standards, the needs met by social workers, and the evaluation metrics used nationally. 

Sullivan expects that the grant funding will contribute to hiring a student to assist and interview social workers about their roles, support travel for presenting the results of the study, and create a website that provides access to all of the resources created. 

“This will be an opportunity to educate future librarians about these collaborative relationships,” she says. 

Reflecting on the grant, Sullivan adds, “[This project] means that I can spend the next three years studying something I enjoy. It also means that I can hire a student, which gives another person tuition. That’s very meaningful to me.”