• Current News
• Calendar
• Lecture Archive
• Newsletters
• RSS Feeds
• Archives

GSLIS Students Named Spectrum Scholars

September 9, 2009

Several GSLIS students, including Youngmie Han, Aaisha Haykal, Janee Jackson, and Yasmeen Shorish, have been named 2009-2010 Spectrum Scholars by the American Library Association.

Established in 1997, the scholarship program was created to promote diversity among graduate-level library school students. Each Scholar receives $5000 from the ALA as well as over $1500 toward professional development opportunities. In addition, GSLIS gives each Spectrum Scholar a tuition waiver. Illinois recipients of the Spectrum Scholarship are also awarded a grant from The Sylvia Murphy Williams Fund, part of the Illinois Library Association.

Youngmie Han is a master's student who is focusing on rare book librarianship. Before becoming a GSLIS student, Han worked in the Rare Book and Manuscript Library at Columbia University. Han said, "I would like to eventually work in a similar setting or in an academic library, and I hope my background in Classics and computer science will also help me to bridge the gap between the antiquated nature of the holdings and the exciting new technological advances in information studies. The program at GSLIS was the only one I applied to, as I was so sure I wanted to come here! I was particularly impressed by the diversity and strength of the many subfields represented in the school. I feel incredibly honored to have been named among the Spectrum Scholars this year, and am so grateful to the ALA and GSLIS for the opportunity to pursue a career about which I am so passionate."

Aaisha Haykal is a master's student and a Community Informatics Initiative Fellow. Haykal said, "I feel honored to be chosen to be a Spectrum Scholar because of the mission of the initiative. There is a lack of ethnic and racial groups in the information profession, which the program counteracts. In addition, by promoting "diverse" librarians it demonstrates that ALA realizes that the community that the library and other information repositories serve is not monolithic."

Janee Jackson is a master's student who plans to study youth literature and services and become a children's librarian. She currently works full-time as an assistant preschool teacher. Jackson said, "I am very blessed and thankful that I am a Spectrum Scholar. This program has opened so many doors for me and has exposed me to so many opportunities that it has made me start to think broader about my career choices. I have worked in libraries previously and I wanted an opportunity to learn to serve others and foster a love of reading, education and freedom of information."

Yasmeen Shorish is a master's student who is interested in science librarianship and conservation. "Just over a year ago, library science was recommended to me by a science librarian and as I learned more about the field I came to realize how attractive it was," Shorish said. "I knew I wanted to go to a school that was well regarded and supportive of its students. As an Illinois native, I was very pleased to learn that GSLIS was the top-ranked school in the nation and I am very grateful to have been admitted. Being named a Spectrum Scholar is truly an honor and one for which I am eternally grateful. The professional support, fantastic network of past Spectrum Scholars and, of course, the monetary aid are all humbling factors of this scholarship. I am very appreciative to be in the company of so many accomplished Scholars and I hope to do the scholarship proud as I continue in my studies."

SEARCH