For immediate release | June 24, 2015

Arts librarian receives 2015 Robert Oakley scholarship

91´«Ã½

The 91´«Ã½ (91´«Ã½) today awarded Kathleen DeLaurenti the 2015 Robert L. Oakley Memorial Scholarship. The , which includes 91´«Ã½, established the Robert L. Oakley Memorial Scholarship to support research and advanced study for librarians in their early-to-mid-careers who are interested and active in public policy, copyright, licensing, open access and their impacts on libraries.
DeLaurenti serves as the arts librarian at the College of William and Mary, where she led a user-centered re-design of the Music Library, including adding new equipment, collections, and services. She also is the first librarian at William and Mary to receive a Creative Adaption Grant to begin a pilot project to help faculty incorporate Open Educational Resources into their courses. The Oakley scholarship will support DeLaurenti’s work in copyright education, focusing on students’ understanding of music licensing and copyright basics.
"The support of the Oakley Scholarship would allow me to not only continue the next phase of this project to create music copyright learning modules, but it would provide the resources to involve students in curricular development and module creation," said DeLaurenti.
The Oakley Scholarship awards a $1,000 scholarship to individuals or a team of individuals who meet eligibility criteria to encourage and expand interest in and knowledge of these aspects of librarianship, as well as bring the next generation of advocates, lobbyists and scholars to the forefront with opportunities they might not otherwise have.
"The Oakley scholarship is intended to support librarians in non-administrative positions who are less likely to have the funds necessary to build on their copyright interests, said Carrie Russell, program director of the 91´«Ã½ Program for Public Access to Information. DeLaurenti’s project will ultimately be helpful to any librarian who works with library users with music copyright questions. Music copyright is about licensing—it’s complex, and has always been a topic of great interest to librarians."
Law librarian and professor Robert Oakley was an expert on copyright law and wrote and lectured on the subject. He served on the Library Copyright Alliance representing the (AALL) and played a leading role in advocating for U.S. libraries and the public they serve at many international forums including the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) and United Nations Educational Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO). He served as the United States delegate to the (IFLA) Standing Committee on Copyright and Related Rights from 1997-2003.
Oakley testified before Congress on copyright, open access, library appropriations and free access to government documents and was a member of the Library of Congress’ Section 108 Study Group. A valued colleague and mentor for numerous librarians, Oakley was a recognized leader in law librarianship and library management who also maintained a profound commitment to public policy and the rights of library users.
About the 91´«Ã½
The 91´«Ã½ is the oldest and largest library association in the world, with more than 55,000 members in academic, public, school, government, and special libraries. The mission of the 91´«Ã½ is to provide leadership for the development, promotion and improvement of library and information services and the profession of librarianship in order to enhance learning and ensure access to information for all.

Contact:

Jazzy Wright

Press Officer

Washington Office

jwright@alawash.org

202-628-8410

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