NCSU Libraries Focus Online

Volume 25 number 1 - Fall 2004

The Libraries Celebrates the 2002-2004 Fellows

By Wendy Scott, Organizational Design and Learning

On July 15, 2004, the NCSU Libraries celebrated the "graduation" of Anna Dahlstein, Kelsey Libner, and Monica Lopez from the NCSU Libraries Fellows Program. Dahlstein, Libner, and Lopez, who comprised the Fellows class of 2002-2004, completed their fellowships on June 30, 2004. The Fellows program provides a two-year, postgraduate appointment to a select group of librarians who are recruited from graduate programs throughout North America.

This year marked the first formal, library-wide event recognizing the Fellows for completion of the program. The occasion featured a graduation ceremony with guest speaker Karin Wittenborg, university librarian at the University of Virginia. A longtime supporter of innovative approaches to recruiting and developing the next generation of librarians, Wittenborg delivered an inspiring address to all library staff, entitled "Building Your Career Everyday." With practical advice and illustrative (and often amusing) anecdotes, Wittenborg encouraged audience members to "take charge of your career."

The Fellows appointment is a challenging and exciting one. Fellows are halftime librarians in a "home department" with a second halftime assignment to an innovative and strategically important project. This combination of responsibilities develops professional abilities on a fast track, which is important during the current worldwide shortage of librarians. In recognition of this accomplishment, Dahlstein, Libner, and Lopez each received a certificate of completion, presented at the ceremony by Susan K. Nutter, vice provost and director of Libraries. Fellows were then treated to a special dinner with Wittenborg and other guests.

The NCSU Libraries Fellows program began in 1999 to help address the significant challenges in recruiting and developing librarians who represent the intellectual and demographic diversity of NC State's faculty and student population. The program targets recent graduates with master's degrees in library or information science who demonstrate potential for science, engineering, digital librarianship, and management and administration, as well as those from minority backgrounds. The program has been an outstanding success. To date, twenty-two Fellows have completed the program, with 95 percent going to positions in academic libraries (twelve at NCSU Libraries) or to Ph.D. programs in the library science field. Interest in the program, as shown by the number of applicants, has grown each year. In 2004 the Libraries received more than 195 applications for Fellows positions.