Joshua Short knows firsthand the barriers to public library access that patrons living on modest wages experience. Having grown up in a self-professed "low-income environment," Short has made it his mission to reduce these barriers, such as library fines, inadequate transportation, and limited computer literacy.

Twelve iSchool master's students were named 2024–2025 Spectrum Scholars by the American Library Association (ALA) Office for Diversity, Literacy, and Outreach Services. This “Spectrum Scholar Spotlight” series highlights the School’s scholars. MSLIS student Leslie Lopez graduated from the University of North Texas with a BA in psychology.

Adam Beaty decided to pursue an MSLIS degree to combine his love of history, the arts, and community-centered spaces. This combination of interests culminated in a 244-item digital collection that showcases digitized materials depicting nearly thirty years of queer nightlife in Champaign County. 

After graduation, Deekshita Karingula would like to build data pipelines, automate workflows for greater efficiency, and use data to transform healthcare. She views the MSIM program as the "ideal way" to connect her computer science and technical skills with data management skills, helping her reach her goals.

When MSLIS student Deborah Walters was offered a graduate assistantship to work in the Alpha Tau Omega Archives, she viewed it as a "unique opportunity to have a hands-on independent experience in archives" that she couldn't pass up. Alpha Tau Omega (ATO) is a social fraternity that was founded at the Virginia Military Institute in 1865. Its archives are among the national fraternity collections housed at the Student Life and Culture Archives at the University of Illinois.

With his Choctaw and Muscogee Creek heritage, PhD student David Eby has a personal connection to his research, which seeks to blend Indigenous knowledge with quantitative data practices. Eby, who is a member of Native American House at University of Illinois, is also interested in analyzing online community identity and representation. 

Twelve iSchool master’s students were named 2024-2025 Spectrum Scholars by the American Library Association (ALA) Office for Diversity, Literacy, and Outreach Services. This "Spectrum Scholar Spotlight" series highlights the School's scholars. MSLIS student Mateo Caballero graduated from Northeastern University with a BA in communications and media and screen studies.

BSIS + DS student Jenny Mai discusses her study abroad experience in Melbourne, Australia, a country filled with energy, culture, and a laid-back but driven attitude. According to Mai, "living in Melbourne has been more transformative" than she expected!

MSLIS student Evan Allgood's volunteer work showed him that a career in information science would bring all his interests together in one field: accessibility, literature, history, technology, databases, and community building.

Twelve iSchool master's students were named 2024-2025 Spectrum Scholars by the American Library Association (ALA) Office for Diversity, Literacy, and Outreach Services. This "Spectrum Scholar Spotlight" series highlights the School's scholars. MSLIS student Armaan Singh Kalkat graduated from the University of Florida with a BA in linguistics and BS in psychology (with an emphasis on neuroscience).

Master's students Caitlin Herrera and Isabel Ryan have been selected to participate in the 2024-2026 Association of Research Libraries (ARL) Kaleidoscope Diversity Scholars Program. With the goal of attracting MSLIS students from historically underrepresented racial and ethnic groups to careers in research libraries and archives, the Kaleidoscope Program offers financial support to scholars as well as leadership development through the ARL Annual Leadership Symposium, a formal mentoring program, career placement assistance, and a site visit to an ARL member library.

MSLIS student Chloe Miller is using her journalism background in her role as editorial assistant for the iSchool's quarterly journal, Library Trends. In the span of a year, Miller has proofed and edited nearly 2,000 references across approximately ten languages for adherence to the Chicago Manual of Style and provided foundational research for new policies and procedures.

Leep (MSLIS online) student Morgan Rondinelli shares her experience as a mentally ill library professional in the article, "What's Missing in Conversations about Libraries and Mental Illness," which was recently published in the open access, peer-reviewed journal In the Library with the Lead Pipe. 

Seventeen iSchool master's students have been named 2023-2024 Spectrum Scholars by the American Library Association (ALA) Office for Diversity, Literacy, and Outreach Services. This "Spectrum Scholar Spotlight" series highlights the School's scholars. MSLIS student Alyssa Brown earned her BA in environmental studies from Middlebury College.

BSIS student Adaeze Asonye, who hails from the Near West Side of Chicago, discovered her interest in user interface (UI)/user experience (UX) before her freshman year. She looked for programs that would help her prepare for a career in this area and discovered the iSchool.

Seventeen iSchool master’s students have been named 2023-2024 Spectrum Scholars by the American Library Association (ALA) Office for Diversity, Literacy, and Outreach Services. This "Spectrum Scholar Spotlight" series highlights the School's scholars. MSLIS student Ted Farias earned his BA in psychology from California State University of Long Beach.

PhD student Emily Wegrzyn has been selected for the prestigious Science, Mathematics, and Research for Transformation (SMART) Scholarship-for-Service Program, which is funded by the Department of Defense. The primary aim of this program is to increase the number of civilian engineers and scientists in the U.S. 

When the Fighting Illini men's basketball team played in the Big Ten Tournament and NCAA Tournament this spring, BSIS student John Kramer was on the sidelines for each game—not simply as a fan but as a team manager. This is the second year that Kramer, a sophomore from Huntley, Illinois, has served in this role.

After graduating with his BSIS degree in May, Colton Keiser will head to St. Louis to work as an internal audit and financial advisory consultant with Protiviti. He gained experience in auditing while working as an intern for the Montgomery County Public Defender in his hometown of Hillsboro, Illinois.

After spending some time in the defense IT industry, Michael Ferrer decided to return to school for his MSIM degree to gain skills in areas such as data visualization and advance his career. Outside of his studies, Ferrer is a competitive ballroom dancer and member of the Illinois Army National Guard.