Wayne State University, Sponsored Program Administration

The Wayne State University School of Library and Information Science and the Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCU) Library Alliance will recruit, mentor, and deliver an online Master of Library and Information Science degree to 10 students from underrepresented groups in order to achieve greater diversity among practicing library professionals. Recruitment efforts will be extended particularly to undergraduates currently attending HBCU institutions and library paraprofessionals currently employed by HBCU libraries. The major goals of this project are to recruit additional underrepresented students to the library profession; provide graduate library science educational opportunities to promising bachelor’s degree holders and library paraprofessionals from underrepresented groups; and test the efficacy of a distributed online degree program, supported by on-site mentors, to retain students from underrepresented groups through degree completion and employment as professional librarians.