The University of Maryland’s College of Information Studies, Maryland’s iSchool, has received a grant from the Institute of Museum and Library Services (IMLS) to support a second cohort of 25 Lilead Fellows and create the Lilead Leaders program. Awarded as part of the 2016 Laura Bush 21st Century Librarian program, the iSchool will partner with the Darden College of Education at Old Dominion University (Norfolk, VA) to carry out the expanded program.

Applications for the Lilead Fellows Program will open in January 2017. Like their predecessors, the second cohort of library supervisors will receive professional development (PD) to help them tackle challenging and pressing issues in their districts and work toward transformational change to support student success. The Lilead Project team also will develop a series of professional education courses designed for school library leaders across the country. The Lilead Leaders Program will be available to individuals at building and district levels who seek to be activists and advocates for school libraries. The short, online courses for school library leaders will focus on strengths-­based leadership, transformational change, effective communication strategies, and evidence-­based practice.

The Lilead Project began in 2012 through grant funding from IMLS to conduct the first baseline study completed with school district library supervisors in more than thirty years. From their responses, the Lilead Project team identified the need for PD for these supervisors nationwide. Funded by a 2014 IMLS grant, the first cohort of Lilead Fellows underwent an intensive 18-month PD experience beginning in January 2015 that was designed to empower, enable, and equip the supervisors to think differently and creatively about their library programs and to be effective and inspirational leaders for change in their districts.

The application process for the Lilead Fellows and the Lilead Leaders Programs will be announced at the 2017 American Library Association (ALA) Midwinter Meeting in January. For more information about the application process and updates about the Program, visit http://lileadproject.org

 

About the Lilead Project

Directed by a team at the University of Maryland’s College of Information Studies (iSchool) and now in partnership with the Darden College of Education at Old Dominion University, the Lilead Project began in 2012 with an IMLS-funded grant to administer the Lilead Survey to collect data and report on the roles, responsibilities, and impact of school district library supervisors. With further funding from IMLS, the Lilead Project expanded to include the Lilead Fellows Program and the Lilead Leaders Program, offering long-term online and in-person professional development critical to district library supervisors and other library leaders. For more information on the Lilead Project, visit http://lileadproject.org or follow the Project on Facebook and Twitter.

 

About the College of Information Studies

The College of Information Studies, Maryland’s iSchool, empowers people, organizations and society to use information effectively through its research and undergraduate, graduate and professional programs. Maryland’s iSchool enables students and faculty to create new ways for people to connect with information that will transform society and is ideally located in the information capital of the world- the Washington DC metro region. The iSchool is transforming itself as well, from a small college with a strong foundation in library and information studies programs to a fast-growing and groundbreaking center of expertise that will help people manage the information explosion from childhood to adulthood.

For more information, visit www.ischool.umd.edu.

 

About the Institute for Museum and Library Services

The Institute of Museum and Library Services is the primary source of federal support for the nation’s 123,000 libraries and 17,500 museums. To learn more, visit www.imls.gov and follow them on Facebook and Twitter.