The National Science Foundation has awarded $6 million to US Ignite—an independent, nonprofit organization whose mission is to spur development of advanced Internet applications that enable transformative public benefit—for a project to develop “living lab” communities across the country. Participating cities will serve as testing grounds for smart gigabit applications. Announcement of the grant…

Fourteen GSLIS instructors were named to the University’s List of Teachers Ranked as Excellent for Spring 2015.

The GSLIS faculty have selected three scholars to be appointed research fellows from August 2015 to August 2017. GSLIS research fellows are chosen because their work is relevant to the interests of GSLIS faculty and students. Each will give at least one lecture during their appointment. Nominated by Associate Professor Emerita Christine Jenkins and Associate Professor Carol Tilley is Denise…

The Institute of Museum and Library Services has awarded GSLIS a $248,205 National Leadership Grant for the project, “App Authors: Closing the App Gap II.” Principal investigator Deborah Stevenson, assistant professor and director of the Center for Children’s Books, and co-PI Kate McDowell, associate professor and assistant dean for student affairs, began work on the IMLS-funded planning phase of…

Susan Kumar (MS ’05) and husband Parameswaran Kumar have made a gift of $25,000 to establish the Taylor Willingham Lecture in Change Management.

Thanks to a generous pledge from Lionelle Elsesser (AB '66, MS '67) and husband James Elsesser (BS '66, MS '67), GSLIS is one step closer to realizing its first faculty chair, the Endowed Chair in the History of Libraries and the Information Professions. Gifts of any size will be matched on a one-to-one basis up to a total contribution of $225,000 by the Elsessers, and the resulting $450,000…

When Ed Koval created the Anna Mae Koval Scholarship at GSLIS in honor of his late wife, he knew that the financial support for students would help them achieve their educational and career goals. The gift, however, is providing more than just financial support. It is proving inspirational as well. Anna Mae Koval inspired countless young readers as a librarian and storyteller during her…

Within the realm of social justice, professional resources can be scattered widely among the many disparate areas that intersect with this field, impeding research and fieldwork. A group of LIS doctoral students from across the country—all current American Library Association Spectrum Doctoral Fellows—are working together to create a solution to this challenge called the Social Justice Collaboratorium (@SJCollaborate).c

GSLIS recently hosted the second annual Summer Getaway, a series of workshops that brought together over sixty school librarians from across the state to learn about current topics in K-12 librarianship from experts and from each other. Each day of the three-day event offered a different professional development focus. On Monday, attendees learned about the latest state requirements for…

GSLIS Senior Research Scientist Martin Wolske has been named president of the Board of Trustees of the Champaign Public Library. He has been a member of the board since November 2014 and is now replacing Trisha Crowley, whose term ended in June of this year. His term as president is set for one year with the possibility of reappointment. This new appointment coincided with an announcement from…