Scholarships

It is a troubling reality that our current ranks do not represent the communities we serve. Data collected by ALA's Office for Research and Statistics in 1998 indicates that 87% of both academic and public librarians are white. The library community offers several scholarships to recruit librarians from a rich variety of backgrounds.

The Diversity Librarians' Network maintains a list of scholarships and awards including master's, doctoral, and postdoctoral level fellowships/scholarships, money for conference attendance, and other competitive awards for library students and professionals.
The Black Caucus of the ALA (BCALA) annually awards the E.J. Josey Scholarship, two unrestricted grants of $2,000 to be awarded annually to African American students enrolled in, or accepted by, ALA accredited programs.
The Century Scholarship is an ALA scholarship targeted for people with disabilities.
The Spectrum Initiative has as its goal to recruit applicants and award scholarships to minority students pursuing the M.L.S.
LITA awards two annual minority scholarships which are designed to encourage qualified persons to enter the the library and automation field.