TLCART grant cohort selected

Texas Woman’s University School of Library and Information Studies was awarded $397,265 in community anchors project grant funding, under the IMLS Laura Bush 21^st Century Librarian Program in 2018, with $179,917 in cost share. Transforming Libraries into Community Anchors in Rural Texas (TLCART) provides financial support for students’ online, asynchronous learning in a 24-month program of study resulting in an ALA-accredited Master of Library Science degree with a specialty in community informatics. The project was intended to demonstrate a new model for education for public librarianship, by incorporating community informatics in which students will engage in community development activities including needs assessment, stakeholder analysis, grant writing, and project planning, all within a real-world framework of their own small and rural communities.

The focus of the TLCART educational program, Community Informatics, uses information and communication technology (ICT) to facilitate desired changes in communities. Central to its modeling for other LIS programs, the very purpose of this project is to develop a new generation of librarians highly competent in using data and technology to empower their own communities.

Twenty students were selected for the TLCART project cohort and began their program of study in Spring 2019. Twelve of the 20 cohort members (60%) live in census tract areas comprised of more than 50% minority population. Twelve cohort members (60%) live in areas with populations that are at least 50% Hispanic. Fifteen cohort members (75%) are residents in areas that exceed the national poverty rate of 12.3%. With a median age of 40.7 years, members of the cohort range from 23 to 65 years old. All possess bachelor’s degrees (a requirement for application to the graduate school), while six (30%) have earned prior graduate degrees, including one with an earned doctorate.

Members of the TLCART project cohort are:

• Ashley Aguillon (Victoria)
• Veronica Anguiano (Robstown)
• Stefanie Bara (Brady)
• Jessica Berger (Victoria)
• Mary Cardenas (Poteet)
• Elizabeth (Dianne) Connery (Pottsboro)
• Gwin Grimes (Alpine)
• Katie Hernandez (Weslaco)
• Mary Hurley (Mineola)
• Nell Langford ( Enterprise)
• Maria Liera (El Paso)
• Vanessa Mascorro (Dallas)
• Lorie Navarro (Edinburg)
• Melinda Scribner (Laredo)
• Michelle Slonaker (Chico)
• Laura Soto (Alamo)
• Kimberly Speer-Turner (Carthage)
• Charla Viera (Kerrville)
• Donald Wetterauer (Alpine)
• Carolyn Williams (Woodville)

Congratulations to all the cohort members!

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By Ling Hwey Jeng (SLIS Director and Principal Investigator) and Carol Perryman (SLIS Associate Professor and Co-Principal Investigator)