Two MLA/NLM Spectrum Scholars Selected for 2010/11
Since 2000, MLA has worked with the the the National Library of Medicine (NLM) to encourage diversity in health sciences librarianship through the American Library Association (ALA) Spectrum Initiative. Spectrum scholars receive $6,500 each to support their education. Funding for the MLA/NLM Spectrum scholarships is provided by a grant from the National Network of Libraries of Medicine, South Central Region (NN/LM SCR), located at the Houston Academy of Medicine-Texas Medical Center Library.
This year’s Spectrum scholars are Holly Beeman and Mariaelena de la Rosa.
Holly Beeman will attend the LIS program at the University of Michigan-Ann Arbor, fall 2010, and is considering the archival health sciences field to put to use her background as an assistant archivist at the Baylor College of Medicine Archives Department, Houston, TX. While an undergraduate at the University of Houston, she majored in political science and history. Beeman is looking forward to learning from her MLA mentor in detail about a career as a medical librarian and in particular about the academic medical library milieu. Beeman says, ” A career in information will allow me to directly serve diverse communities with ever-changing needs.”
Mariaelena de la Rosa will attend the LIS program, fall, 2010, at the University of Arizona-Tucson, and comes to the library sciences profession with a masters of public health degree and experience in health care as a nurse for many years and as a library assistant for an elementary school. The combination of her strong nursing background as a public health nurse at the Community Health and Social Services Center in Detroit, MI, and her experience gained as a library assistant will help de la Rosa considerably in her goal to become a medical librarian. De la Rosa states, “As an academic librarian, I envision myself bridging the gap of information for diverse populations.”
Both Spectrum scholars will enjoy free MLA membership throughout the scholarship year and obtain career advice from MLA member mentors. MLA member Nadine Dexter, AHIP, will serve as mentor to Holly Beeman. Dexter is the library director at the Harriet F. Ginsburg Health Sciences Library, University of Central Florida Health Sciences Campus-Orlando. Kelly Gonzalez, AHIP, deputy director, Medical Center Library, University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center-Dallas is the mentor for Mariaelena de la Rosa.
African American, Hispanic, Asian, Native American, or Native Hawaiian/Other Pacific Islander prospective library school students attending ALA-accredited library schools with less than twelve credit hours are welcome to apply for the Spectrum Initiative Scholarship. For more information, visit the MLANET Grants and Scholarships page, contact the ALA Spectrum Program at 800.545.2433 x5048, or email spectrum@ala.org.
MLA is a nonprofit, educational organization with more than 4,000 health sciences information professional and institutional members worldwide. Founded in 1898, MLA provides lifelong educational opportunities, supports a knowledgebase of health information research, and works with a global network of partners to promote the importance of quality information for improved health to the health care community and the public.
For more information, please contact Lisa C. Fried, mlapd2@mlahq.org, 312.419.9094 x28.