GSLIS students William Langston and Sophie Young have been selected to receive 2014 Spectrum Scholar/PLA Conference Travel Grants from the Public Library Association. In total, ten of the nation's 2013 Spectrum Scholars were selected to receive funding to attend the conference.
Langston and Young, both master's students, were named ALA Spectrum Scholars earlier this year along with four other GSLIS students. Langston is pursuing a community informatics specialization and has a particular interest in geographic information systems. Young is a LEEP student focusing on library administration and information sciences.
According to a press release from the American Library Association:
The grants provide $1,000 for travel and housing arrangements as well as complimentary registration to the PLA 2014 Conference, March 11–15 in Indianapolis. The purpose of these grants is to introduce Spectrum Scholars to public librarianship and to provide networking opportunities for scholars within the profession. Although PLA has contributed to the Spectrum Scholar fund in previous years, this was the first time it offered a conference travel grant.
Applicants submitted an essay that answered the following questions: What interests you about public librarianship? Why are you the best person to receive this grant? How will you benefit and what do you hope to achieve by attending this conference? All the submissions were reviewed by the 2014 PLA Travel Grant Jury – Portia Latalladi, Chicago Public Library, Garfield Ridge Branch; Lessa Pelayo-Lozada, Glendale (Calif.) Public Library; and Fatima Perkins, Cuyahoga County (Ohio) Public Library.