Whitney McComas joined the iSchool on January 8 as an instructional technology support specialist. She comes to the School from the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences, where she worked as the Moodle service manager and an educational technology specialist for Applied Technologies for Learning in the Arts and Sciences (ATLAS). 

The University Library's Diversity Committee and the iSchool's Diversity Committee are recipients of a Strategic Programs Initiative Funds grant to support programs on "Becoming a Trans Inclusive Library."

For more than a century, the iSchool has been, and continues to be, a top-tier school for preparing leaders for the library and information professions. Now the iSchool is pleased to announce the establishment of a new endowed professorship, the Professorship in the History of Libraries and the Information Professions. The professorship was spearheaded by Laurel A. Grotzinger (MS '58, PhD '64), who passed away in 2017; Don (PhD '72) and Avis Davis; and Mark (PhD '83) and Barbara Tucker.

Terhi Nurmikko-Fuller, senior lecturer at the Australian National University, has been selected by the iSchool faculty as a research fellow for a two-year term through 2021. Research fellows are chosen because their work is relevant to the interests of the School's faculty and students. Each will give at least one lecture during their appointment.

According to Leep student Robyn Whitlock, the iSchool's school librarian licensure program has done "an amazing job" of preparing her for a career as a school librarian. Her advice to students considering school librarianship is "go for it!" As she nears the end of her program, Whitlock "couldn't be more excited about the future." 

The Center for Children's Books (CCB) at the iSchool is hosting its Nineteenth Annual Book Sale from February 17-19, 2020. Sale hours are 10:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m. each day. Thousands of brand-new children's books will be available for youth ages birth through high school. The titles available represent the full spectrum of publishing in children's fiction and nonfiction: board books, picture books, easy and transitional readers, chapter books, series fiction, novels, activity books and kits, nonfiction series, mass-market paperbacks, and more.

Assistant Professor Elizabeth Hoiem explains how studying children's literature offers new perspectives on history.

For a decade, the Illinois Cyber Security Scholars Program (ICSSP) has been offering scholarships to undergraduate and graduate students at the University of Illinois in exchange for government service after graduation. The program is offered through the University's Information Trust Institute (ITI), an interdisciplinary research center addressing all aspects of information trust.

Brett Peugh joined the iSchool on January 2 as an endpoint services specialist. He comes to the School from the Center for Innovation in Teaching & Learning (CITL) on campus.  In his new position, Peugh will order, install, and provide second-level tech support for the laptops and desktops in the School.

In the very back of the American Writers Museum there is a corner where two walls meet, each filled from top to bottom with words, seemingly random. The light is low, and people gather as a projector illuminates these words to highlight quotes from famous authors and create shapes such as rolling waves and the distinct torch of the Statue of Liberty. Every eight minutes it refreshes itself and is mesmerizing to watch. It creates meaning out of disorder, ever-changing both in perspective and content.