Preparation of Leaders in School Library Media

Project Director: Cary Buzelli

The Preparation of Leaders in School Library Media project, funded by the U.S. Institute for Museum and Library Services, is designed to support doctoral students in pursuit of a career in the professoriate area of school libraries. A curriculum will be developed to support an ongoing program for doctoral students in school library media services in the School of Education. The project is a collaborative effort between the School of Library and Information Science (SLIS) in Indianapolis and the Curriculum Studies Program in the School of Education (SOE) in Bloomington and is co-directed by Cary Buzzelli (SOE) and Marilyn Irwin (SLIS).

In the first year of the project, four students, including one minority student, were recruited into the doctoral program. All four fellowship students began taking courses in January 2005. The project also funded a week-long summer research seminar on diversity in which all four students participated. Drs. Barbara Korth, Paulette Dilworth, and Stephanie Carter from the School of Education, Dr. Marilyn Irwin from the School of Library and Information Science, and Dr. Denise Agosto from Drexel University presented their research to the participating students. Additionally, two of the fellowship students were funded to attend an international research symposium sponsored by Rutgers University and held in New York City in April 2005.

In the coming year, students will continue with their coursework, get more involved in teaching and research, and be supported to attend professional conferences. A second summer research seminar will be scheduled, and out-of-state doctoral students who are also interested in school library media services will be supported to participate. This will facilitate a dialogue with other students to see what additional research is being done and begin to establish a network of future colleagues in the area. Finally, Curriculum Studies Program faculty members and the fellowship students will meet to discuss what this new doctoral program should look like and line out an appropriate course of study for current and future students.