April 26, 2007 Pratt-SILS

Lots going on at Pratt Institute’s School of Information and Library Science (SILS) - the school is coming up for accreditation in 2008, Dean Tula Giannini is taking a group of students to London this summer, and she has obtained several grants. One of her most successful grant-funded projects is the PULSE program, in which participating students provides tuition credit toward practicums in various aspects of urban librarianship.

The Dean’s wish list for the school:

1. More money for scholarships
2. Decent salaries for graduating students 

Her wish list for NYLA:

1. Help library schools with certification
2. Rather than presentations by Deans at the NYLA conference, hold a forum with a theme, like “The Future of Library Schools” that will have lots of interaction and exchange of ideas
3. More student subsidies or scholarships to attend NYLA conference. The Dewey Scholarships are great!
4. Each Dean should be encouraged to bring a student to speak at the library school program at conference (something along the lines of the ALA-sponsored education forum that discussed how a library school education should prepare students for 21st century libraries)
5. Coordinate buses for students to attend Lobby Day to learn advocacy skills (if memory serves me, usually the 3Rs and public library systems put together buses to Albany)

I talked with her about starting a joint ALA/NYLA student group at Pratt. The current ALA student chapter has a new president and new faculty advisor – Professor Cindy Wolff. Tula suggested that I return in the fall to meet with the group and talk with them about NYLA.

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