For Immediate Release July 20, 2005

For More Information Contact: Rich Schneider, 317-278-4564 rcschnei@iupui.edu

SLIS Graduate Students at IUPUI Win National Honors

INDIANAPOLIS - Several School of Library and Information Science students associated with the IUPUI program have been recognized recently with national awards. These honors represent a growing population of professional-minded graduate students in the Indianapolis program and a wide array of academic achievement.

"Over the past few years, over a dozen graduate students in the School of Library and Information Science at Indianapolis have won grants and scholarships from local and state organizations," said Daniel Callison, executive associate dean and professor. "The Indiana Library Federation (ILF) and the Association for Indiana Media Educators (AIME) have been generous with frequent support of SLIS students."

Students who have been recently honored are:

Teresa Kline from Valparaiso has won a scholarship from the Special Library Association (SLA).

John McDonald from Connersville has been selected the "National School Library Media Specialist of the Year."

Michael Butler-Harley has been granted a Spectrum Scholarship from the American Library Association (ALA).

Details on these and other recent awards won by SLIS students in the Indianapolis program are given below.

Teresa Lynn Kline received a Bachelors degree with high distinction from Indiana University and earned her J.D. from Valparaiso University School of Law. She is currently attending Library School at Indiana University, Purdue University School of Library Science at Indianapolis. She is a member of SLA, AALL, ALA and the Indiana State Bar. While working as a judicial clerk for three state trial court judges and maintaining the law library in the county courthouse, Kline realized the need to obtain a formal library science education in order to properly run the library.

Kline says, "not only will a library science degree enhance performance in my current position, it will enable me to open more doors and give me a competitive edge professionally." She is eager to apply her library education to improve the library collection and move into a more digital library structure.

The SLA Scholarship is granted only for graduate study in librarianship leading to a master's degree at a recognized school of library or information science. Up to three $6,000 SLA scholarships are available each year.

John McDonald, recent graduate of the master in library science (MLS) program at IUPUI, was honored at the National Conference of the American Library Association (ALA) this summer in Chicago as New School Library Media Specialist of the Year. He was also selected as the new school librarian of the year in Indiana.

McDonald received the "Frances Henne Award", named for a leading figure in school media education from Columbia University. Professor Henne was also a national leader in promotion of quality literature for children. Her essays were some of the first to describe the need to teach information (literacy) skills in the public schools.

After several years of teaching in the elementary classroom, John became the school media specialist at Connersville, IN Middle School in 2003. He will serve as President-Elect of the Association for Indiana Media Educators (AIME) in 2006.

Penny Patterson, who also holds the MLS from Indiana University (1992), was selected 2005 Indiana school library media specialist of the year in the experienced section or division for over five years service. Patterson will enter her sixth year at Hinkle Creek Elementary in Noblesville this fall. She has been a leader in AIME and has coordinated the programs for the state conference.

Two current SLIS IUPUI students in school media were recently named "Teacher of the Year" at their respective school corporations. Kim Kronk is the school library media specialist at LaSalle Intermediate Academy in South Bend and Erin Patton is a school library media specialist at Fort Wayne.

Robyn Young, director of school media at Avon High School and graduate of SLIS, presented at the ALA national conference in Chicago this summer. Robyn received the Highsmith Research Award to investigate the impact of graphic novels on reading behavior. Marilyn Irwin, Associate Professor at SLIS, is her research advisor. This was the second Highsmith Award guided by Dr. Irwin.

The American Library Association's ( ALA ) Office for Diversity has announced the eighth national cohort of Spectrum Scholarships. The program is a major drive to recruit students from ethnic minority groups - American Indian, Asian American, African American, Hispanic/Latino and Hawaiian. Each $5,000 scholarship is intended to help cover graduate school expenses.

Micahel Butler-Harley will begin his graduate work through the Indianapolis program this fall. He is the first from Indiana University to be awarded a Spectrum Scholarship. Butler-Harley has worked in academic and public library settings at South Bend, IN. He holds a degree in secondary education from IU.

Two IUPUI SLIS students were awarded full graduate fellowships for 2005-2007. These are the first such awards in the Indianapolis program's history. Top applicants from all graduate programs are selected and include engineering, physics, medicine, education, history, fine arts, and other disciplines. A graduate fellowship includes tuition and other financial support over two years at approximately $25,000.

Natasha Rose Sawatsky-Kingsley is from Goshen, IN. She plans to enter public librarianship. Natasha holds a B.A. from Goshen College in English, history and religion and a master's degree from Mennonite Biblical Seminary in church history.

Mandy Havert is from South Bend and has been employed at the University of Notre Dame Library as a Technical Support Consultant and Analyst. Since 2004 she has been a member of the ALA New Leadership Development Committee. She has a strong interest in learning more about collection management and organizational management strategies. Havert's B.A. is from Ball State University in history and Asian studies.

Gabriela Hysong, in her second year as a graduate SLIS student at IUPUI, was recently awarded a scholarship to attend the Midwest Medical Library Association Conference in September. According to Elaine Skopelja, Chair of the Awards Committee, Gabriela is one of two recipients in the Midwest. ###