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When the University of Washington Information School launched its distance learning program in 2002, it was specifically designed to provide high-quality graduate education to Northwestern states and Canadian provinces that don’t have a regional university offering an advanced degree in library and information science. Beginning last year, the iSchool and the Montana State Library (MSL) began a joint effort that will maximize this aspect of distance learning and help to develop a stronger body of information professionals in the state.
Nine Montana librarians are currently enrolled in the iSchool’s distance Master’s in Library and Information Science (MLIS) program. Each of them has received a $25,000 scholarship from Montana’s Professional Education and Employment for Librarians (PEEL) Project. The project has two major, and related, goals: to increase the number of Montana librarians with a graduate library degree, and to demonstrate the value of having professional librarians in Montana libraries. A condition of scholarship acceptance is working in a professional-level position in a Montana library for a minimum of two years following receipt of the MLIS degree. Additional stipends will help local libraries fund these positions.
And Montana needs them. According to the National Center for Education Statistics (NCES) figures from 2003, only 15 of Montana’s 79 public libraries employed ALA-Master of Library Science (MLS)-degreed librarians in 2001, ranking Montana 45th out of 49 states (Hawaii excluded, as it has only one public library system) in number of ALA-MLS librarians employed. The NCES also reported Montana public libraries were among the most poorly funded in the United States, with only 11 states spending less on public libraries. School district spending in Montana was not much better, as the National Education Association reported Montana 35th among the states in expenditure per pupil.
While finding resources to pay a professional’s salary is sometimes the issue in staffing, the shallow candidate pool is also a factor. “Since Montana does not have a graduate library school, attending graduate school is more difficult and sometimes more expensive for Montana’s graduating college seniors and other individuals who are eligible and interested,” says Sue Jackson, federal grants/continuing education consultant for the Montana State Library and coordinator of the PEEL Project. “One participant told us, ‘Without an accredited MLS school in our state, it was impossible for me to leave my family and a job to pursue this degree. Then I looked into getting my MLS online, but the stumbling block was money.’ The PEEL project helps alleviate such problems. It will improve the supply of graduate-level librarians in Montana.”
Funding comes from the federal agency Institute of Museum and Library Services (IMLS) under a grant initiative called Recruiting Librarians for the 21st Century. “First Lady Laura Bush, a former school librarian, got the program started,” Jackson says “It is one way the library profession is trying to deal with issues such as the graying of its membership and the need to improve information services to rural and minority populations.”
A secondary goal of the PEEL project is increasing awareness of librarianship as a career choice among American Indian students. While 7.5% of Montana’s population is American Indian, the state’s largest minority group, MSL can identify only a few American Indians who hold an ALA-accredited MLS working within the state. This is indicative of a national problem, an under-representation of American Indian librarians. “MSL hopes that by focusing on recruitment, American Indian applicants will increase and the diversity of professional librarians in Montana and the United States will be improved,” Jackson says.
“In the short-term, the PEEL Project will increase the number of graduate-degree-level librarians in Montana and demonstrate why hiring a professional librarian is valuable,” she adds. “The long-range results will be improved library services for Montana residents.”
The nine current scholarship recipients (see sidebar for a list) started at UW in Spring 2007 and hope to receive degrees by 2009, but they and the Montana libraries where they work are already reaping the benefits of their affiliation with the iSchool and with each other. “The first group of PEEL scholarship recipients could attend any ALA-approved distance or residence graduate program (one, Catherine McMullen, a library aide at the Bozeman Public Library, also enrolled in the distance learning program at the iSchool), but this time all scholarship recipients were required to apply to and be accepted into the distance degree program at the UW,” Jackson says. “This creates a cohort that can become well-acquainted during school and then continue working closely together after earning degrees and assuming positions in Montana libraries.”
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“There is a lot of support from others in the Montana cohort,” agrees Nancy Hatfield,a substitute children’s librarian at the Bozeman Public Library who plans to work at a public or school library as a children’s services specialist after she gets her degree. “Sometimes it’s challenging to balance school, job and family commitments. These folks are walking in your shoes and are a great source of encouragement.”
In the dMLIS program, students generally take courses online with quarterly visits to Seattle to attend seminars and meet with faculty and each other. “I am lucky I can attend the UW without quitting my job and relocating, and it’s no hardship to have to visit Seattle every few months!” says Stef Johnson, a library assistant and systems technician with Flathead County Library in northwest Montana. “There are many other advantages, too, such as time flexibility: Lectures are available 24 hours a day, and I can stop and rewind if I like, or listen again to an entire lecture.”
“The distance opportunity was a reason why UW was so inviting,” adds Michelle Fenger, who last year became director of the Ronan City Library in Lake County, also in northwest Montana, after spending the previous five years as the county’s bookmobile librarian. ”I am not able to move to attend classes and do not want to drive too far to attend classes, either. This allows me the time to get my master’s, work, and spend time with my family.”
The current PEEL recipients aren’t waiting for graduation to put their new-found iSchool knowledge to good use. “My technology classes directly aid in network troubleshooting, website development and database design, while the core classes help me to better tailor services for our patrons and librarians,” says Brett Fisher, a technology coordinator with Flathead County Library. “The classes have also enabled me to better help other librarians around the state through the Montana Shared Catalog consortium.”
The group seems to embrace the idea that they are making a commitment to Montana and helping to build something important under the Big Sky. “Montana is diligently working to provide quality library and information services throughout the state,” Fenger says. “I am proud to have the opportunity to be part of that process.”
“Together, as Montana librarians, we can offer something special at the library: a town square, a place we all go to encourage our best selves, read and listen and view and research and entertain and discuss matters that might not come up other places,” Johnson adds. “We have the chance to expand what libraries have always done and move into new realms of what we can offer and what we could become. We can take the brilliance of what the public library has been and bring new layers of access and materials to our communities. We can give our towns a bigger world.”
While the iSchool has previously had significant applications and student representation from Montana, there is no doubt the current concentration of Montana students in the dMLIS program has added to its reach on both sides of the mountains. “It has been a great experience,” says MLIS Program Chair Matthew Saxton. “We hope that this builds a strong community of alumni in Montana who continue to encourage more talented and intelligent individuals to apply. And we certainly encourage any state with similar needs to consider developing its own strategic approach to supporting students in library and information science education. The initial results in this case are successful, and we look forward to seeing what impact this has in the years ahead.”