KNOXVILLE — Members of a University of Tennessee Libraries program for minorities have won the 2004 Cultural Diversity Grant from the American Libraries Association.
Maud Mundava, Jayati Chaudhuri, and Kawanna Bright of UT’s Minority Librarian Residency Program will use the $1,000 award to create a Web site, an electronic discussion list, Web logs to help minority librarians find residency programs and employment, and a forum for sharing ideas.
The residents also are creating a brochure, contacting other residency programs, and surveying minority librarian residents from programs around the country.
“We hope our project will help people connect and share experiences, as well as encourage minority librarians to stay in academic librarianship and succeed,” Bright said.
Chaudhuri said information about minority librarian residencies is hard to find.
“When I was researching residency programs, the information I found was very confusing,” Chaudhuri said. “I look forward to creating a portal of current information that others can use.”
Mundava said her experience as a resident at UT was invaluable.
“Now I look forward to sharing what we-re doing here at UT with others,” she said.
Jill Keally, associate professor and head of Library Support Services, submitted the grant for UT. It is funded through LAMA, the Library Administration and Management Association of the ALA.
“The Minority Librarian Residency Program is a model for increasing diversity at UT and also in our nation-s university libraries,” said Barbara Dewey, dean of libraries.
This is the second time in three years that the UT Libraries have been awarded the association’s Cultural Diversity Award.
The awards will be presented at the LAMA President’s Program, June 27, 2004, during the ALA Annual Conference in Orlando, Fla.