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December 19, 2006
New Jersey State Library Names 13 Scholarship Winners
Library employees from around state enroll in AA
and BA programs
Winners of the associate and bachelor degree
scholarships gathered at the State Library for an orientation
meeting during which recipients were congratulated, given enrollment
instructions and introduced to their counselors at Thomas Edison
State College.
TRENTON – The New Jersey State Library is proud to announce 13
library employees from around the state have been selected to
receive Laura Bush 21st Century Librarian program scholarships. The
scholarships are designed to increase minority and bilingual staff
in New Jersey’s urban public libraries, and the scholarship
winners are enrolled in associate and bachelor degree programs at
Thomas Edison State College where they will begin their studies in
February.
Those candidates awarded scholarships to complete their associate
degree programs include: Jacquelynn McAnuff, Paterson Public
Library; Judy Johnson, Camden Free Public Library; Cadene Patterson,
Long Branch Public Library; Shileen Shaw, Newark Public Library; and
Elias Vazquez, Ocean County Public Library, Lakewood Branch.
Bachelor’s degree scholarship candidates include: Lisa Morris,
Trenton Public Library; Rosalyn Washington, Paterson Free Public
Library; Sabrina Sermons, East Orange Public Library; Audrey
Samuels, Plainfield Public Library; Roland Parks, Camden Free Public
Library; Sandra Jones, Atlantic County Public Library, Pleasantville
Branch; Ellen Rice, Jersey City Public Library; and Aurelia
Rodriguez, Newark Public Library.
Funding for the scholarships is provided by a one million dollar
grant from the Institute of Museum and Library Services given to the
State Library to administer in partnership with Rutgers University
School of Communication, Information and Library Studies, Thomas
Edison State College, Central Jersey Regional Library Cooperative
and the New Jersey Library Association.
This year’s IMLS grant actually represents a second round of
funding the scholarship program which will also provide scholarships
for ten candidates seeking master degrees in library science and two
PhD candidates, one of whom is currently finishing her program.
Applications for MLIS scholarships will be reviewed after a January
2007 deadline. The second round of funding is offering 25
scholarships overall.
State Librarian Norma Blake said that New Jersey libraries are
committed to assuring the quality of library services to all New
Jersey residents. “This scholarship program helps to provide the
well trained professional staff needed to serve the patrons of New
Jersey’s urban libraries in the 21st century,” stressed Blake.
As Director of the NJ Library Development Bureau Jeffery A.
Kesper noted the impact of the scholarship program, “One of the
benefits to urban libraries from this grant is that each participant
agrees to serve in an urban library for three years after
graduation. The NJSL and its partners in the NJ Library Network are
excited by the opportunities this second grant offers, and we look
forward to the graduation of the next class of librarians.”
Working as the Grant Program Administrator Michele Stricker
praised the scholarship winners, “The NJSL is delighted to be a
partner in this wonderful opportunity, and we are very proud of the
associate and bachelor degree scholarship winners.”
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