Three iSchool students among winners in ALA/NEH competition and earn collections of books for organizations of their choosing

Three iSchool students among winners in ALA/NEH competition and earn collections of books for organizations of their choosingMay 01, 2007Margaret Costello Spillettmcostell@syr.edu

Three students enrolled in the master’s program in library and information science at the School of Information Studies successfully submitted a proposal to the We the People Bookshelf on the Pursuit of Happiness competition sponsored by the American Library Association’s (ALA) Public Programs Office and the National Endowment for the Humanities. Kori Gerbig G’07, Sara Kipp G’08 and Peg Mauer G’07 each entered her own plan to promote the We the People Bookshelf collection and this year’s theme, the “Pursuit of Happiness,” and each won a collection of books for an organization of her choosing.

Gerbig received a collection of 20 CDs and children’s books, including four written in Spanish, for SU’s Center for Digital Literacy (CDL) Youth Library Collection. These materials will be placed in the CDL and reviewed by students in IST 612. All of the books reviewed will be placed on CDL’s Reach for the STARS website, http://stars.syr.edu. The books with the highest rating will be considered for the collaborative CDL-Bird Library project, which aims to create a youth library at Bird that will be accessible to the campus community. Students pursuing degrees in library science, education and literacy at SU will use these youth materials to develop reviews, annotations, lesson plans and teaching ideas required by their course work.

Kipp designed an essay contest for her hometown library, the Stillwater (N.Y.) Free Library, in conjunction with the Stillwater Blockhouse Museum. Using reading level guidelines provided by ALA, readers of all ages will select a book and write an essay describing how the title they chose reflects the “Pursuit of Happiness” theme. Each entrant will receive a gift, and a grand-prize winner will be chosen for each age group. As a result of Kipp’s efforts, the Stillwater Free Library received 15 classic books about the contest theme. The library will hold the essay contest from May 1-June 22. More details can be found at: http://stillwater.sals.edu/index.php/we-the-people/.

Mauer, who is in the School Media specialization program, designed a program that would introduce the books and the “Pursuit of Happiness” theme to students at Charlotte High School in Rochester, N.Y., where she is conducting fieldwork. Her plan included ideas on collaborating with the local public library staff to highlight the bookshelf titles and to encourage students to read the books over the summer. Her plan also included a panel discussion in the high school, in which the school’s vice principal, a history teacher, an English teacher, a student council member and a school board member discuss some issues in American history that relate to the “Pursuit of Happiness.” After the panel discussion, individual classes will discuss their personal definitions of pursuing happiness and what they’d be willing to give or give up for the sake of their happiness. As a result of Mauer’s efforts, Charlotte High School received 20 titles — four are in Spanish and one on a CD.

These three students were among 2,000 winners nationwide selected by the ALA to encourage young people to read and understand classic books in the K-12 reading levels while exploring themes in American history, culture and ideas.