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August 12, 2004
Brooklyn Public Library (BPL) has received a grant of $516,732 from the Institute of Museum and Library Services (IMLS) for a pilot training project called PULSE (The Public Urban Library Service Education Project). The project, done in collaboration with the Pratt Institute School of Information and Library Science (SILS), gives students pursuing a Masters in Library Science the opportunity to experience the different career opportunities available at a major urban public library. It will also help to prepare students for leadership positions and motivate them towards public librarianship. The grant also helps to tap students with multilingual and multicultural backgrounds who can best serve diverse urban communities such as Brooklyn. BPL currently has librarians on staff who received their M.L.S. from Pratt Institute, as well as offers select onsite courses taught by BPL staff to Pratt students. The new project will be an expansion of this successful partnership. BPL will match funding with $417,404.
"We at Brooklyn Public Library are thrilled with the opportunity the PULSE project will attract new talent to urban libraries. Together with Pratt Institute School of Information and Library Science, we will create a pilot project that will provide a national model for hands-on learning experience," says Brooklyn Public Library Executive Director Ginnie Cooper. "We are grateful to the Institute of Museum and Library Services for funding this important project."
"Thanks to the Institute of Museum and Library Services, graduate students at the Pratt Institute School of Information and Library Science will benefit from a wonderful new experience at one of the country's largest urban public libraries," said Pratt President Thomas F. Schutte. "Pratt is grateful for the opportunity to collaborate with the Brooklyn Public Library in creating this program, which will be extremely valuable to Pratt students pursuing careers in public librarianship."
"Librarians make accessible the resources and services that stimulate and support learning throughout life," said Dr. Robert S. Martin, Director of the Institute of Museum and Library Services. "The grants IMLS makes today will ensure the future of librarianship in America that creates and sustains our nation of learners."
The PULSE project, which starts in August 2004, is a three-year collaboration offering elements at both BPL and SILS. In effect, BPL will serve as a satellite campus offering accredited courses. Selected students will start with the September 2004 school year. BPL will create seven new trainee positions each year to work at flagship facilities, such at the Central and Business libraries. The trainees will apprentice with BPL age-level specialists and management. In the third year, trainees will select an area of concentration.
Pratt will develop a PULSE Curriculum that incorporates existing and new courses for trainees and other students who want to focus their careers in a public urban library system. It will also offer a 3-credit practicum consisting of an internship of 150 hours at BPL in selected areas of interest such as Archives, Children's Services, Special Needs Populations, Web-based services and Business Library services among others. The program will offer one student a full scholarship in each of the three years. |
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