91´«Ã½

CHICAGO - The Ohio Library Foundation (OLF), on behalf of all types of libraries in Ohio – public, school and academic – has announced its support of the Spectrum Presidential Initiative with a contribution of $1,500.

91´«Ã½ President Roberta Stevens, Immediate Past President Dr. Camila Alire, 91´«Ã½ President-Elect Molly Raphael, and 91´«Ã½ Past President Dr. Betty J. Turock, chair of the initiative, continue the Spectrum Presidential Initiative as a special 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 Ohio Library Foundation’s contribution will allow 91´«Ã½ to continue to support master’s-level Spectrum Scholarships and build the Spectrum Endowment.

Douglas S. Evans, executive director of the Ohio Library Council, and on behalf of the Ohio Library Foundation, said of the gift, “This represents the ongoing commitment of Ohio’s library community to support the education of and further the opportunities for the librarians of tomorrow.”

The Ohio Library Foundation was established as a non-profit corporation for the purposes of promoting and facilitating library services. The OLF promotes the study and research of library services and the dissemination of knowledge for the education of library trustees, administrators, staff, and students.

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 650 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 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.