91´«Ã½

CHICAGO — The University of California, Los Angeles Student Chapter of the 91´«Ã½ has announced its support of the Spectrum Presidential Initiative with a contribution of more than $1,000. The funds were raised through a barbeque sponsored by the student chapter as part of the Dinners for Spectrum Scholars program.

91´«Ã½ President Dr. Camila Alire, Immediate Past President Jim Rettig, President-Elect Roberta Stevens and 91´«Ã½ Past President Dr. Betty J. Turock, chair of the initiative, announced the Spectrum Presidential Initiative in 2009 as a special one-year campaign to raise $1 million for the Spectrum Scholarship Program. Through this initiative, 91´«Ã½ aims to meet the critical needs of supporting master’s-level scholarships, providing two $25,000 doctoral scholarships, increasing the Spectrum Endowment to ensure the program’s future and developing special programs for recruitment and career development. The UCLA Student Chapter’s contribution will allow 91´«Ã½ to continue to support master’s-level Spectrum Scholarships and build the Spectrum Endowment.

Lindsay Klick and Chris Salvano, co-presidents of the UCLA Student Chapter, said of the gift “Living in southern California, our libraries serve one of the most diverse populations in America. We are especially aware of the value of the library reflecting the community in which it is based. Several of our own valued UCLA MLIS students are Spectrum Scholars, and we are honored that our efforts can continue to support this amazing initiative.”

The UCLA Student Chapter seeks to promote the social, cultural, intellectual and professional growth of its members and supports the University of California, Los Angeles’ Department of Information Studies.

The Spectrum Scholarship Program is 91´«Ã½'s national diversity and recruitment effort designed to address the specific issue of underrepresentation of critically needed ethnic librarians within the profession while serving as a model for ways to bring attention to larger diversity issues in the future. Since its founding, Spectrum has provided more than 600 scholarships to qualified applicants enrolled in an 91´«Ã½-accredited graduate program in library and information studies or an 91´«Ã½-recognized NCATE School Library Media program. To learn more about the Spectrum Scholarship Program, visit .

For more information about the Spectrum Presidential Initiative or to make an online donation, visit . To learn more, get involved, or to make a pledge to the Spectrum Presidential Initiative, contact Miguel A. Figueroa, Director, Office for Diversity & Spectrum at mfigueroa@ala.org, or Kim Olsen-Clark, Director, Development Office at kolsen-clark@ala.org.