University of Wisconsin-Whitewater (University of Wisconsin System School Library Education Consortium)

The University of Wisconsin System School Education Consortium (UWSSEC) is a collaborative venture of five state universities, including campuses in Whitewater, Madison, Eau Claire, Superior, and Oshkosh. To address a statewide shortage of school library media specialists, UWSSEC will partner with the Wisconsin Department of Public Instruction and the Wisconsin Educational Media and Technology Association to train 50 new school library media specialists for the state's rural and high-need urban public schools. This new workforce will be recruited from teachers already working in those schools, who will receive full scholarships to earn a master's degree in librarianship with a school library media specialization. Project staff also will develop instructional materials to help school administrators better understand the role of school library media specialists.