Librarianship: A 1970s Program Attempted to Diversify University of Illinois Library School
From the Illinois News Bureau:
Thirty minority students were recruited in the early 1970s to attend the Graduate School of Library and Information Sciences (now the School of Information Sciences) at the University of Illinois. Called the Carnegie Scholars, all but one of the black and Latino students graduated, and they went on to successful careers in and out of the library profession.
The program was an outgrowth of Project 500, the University of Illinois’ 1968 initiative to increase the number of black students enrolled and increase the diversity of the campus. Like that program, the Carnegie Scholars suffered from discrimination, low expectations and a lack of support, writes library professor Nicole Cooke in a recently published article.
Read the Complete Illinois News Bureau Article (approx. 660 words)
See Also: Nicole Cook, University of Illinois Library and Information Sciences Professor, Writes Textbook On Diversity Issues For Librarians (Feb. 6, 2017)
About Gary Price
Gary Price (gprice@gmail.com) is a librarian, writer, consultant, and frequent conference speaker based in the Washington D.C. metro area. He earned his MLIS degree from Wayne State University in Detroit. Price has won several awards including the SLA Innovations in Technology Award and Alumnus of the Year from the Wayne St. University Library and Information Science Program. From 2006-2009 he was Director of Online Information Services at Ask.com.