Greetings Colleagues, I trust you're well. Today I'm celebrating a new partnership with Wayne State University! The HBCU Library Alliance was invited to partner with Wayne State University (MI) on a 2013 Laura Bush 21st Century Librarian Program Grant for the project, "Increasing Leadership Diversity." The project goals are to recruit, mentor, and deliver an online MLIS degree to 10 students from underrepresented groups in order to achieve greater diversity among practicing library professionals. Recruitment efforts will be extended particularly to undergraduates currently attending HBCU institutions and library paraprofessionals currently employed by HBCU libraries. The major goals of this two-year project are to: 1. recruit underrepresented students to the library profession 2. provide graduate library science educational opportunities to promising bachelor's degree holders and library paraprofessionals from underrepresented groups 3. test the efficacy of a distributed online degree program, supported by mentors, to retain students from underrepresented groups through degree completion and employment as professional librarians. The Alliance's role is to: 1. assist in the recruitment of qualified applicants; it is anticipated that students will begin classes August 2014 2. recruit 15 senior librarians who have graduated from any phase of the Leadership Program (10 to be matched with students, 5 alternates) to serve as mentors to the students, each mentor will receive a stipend for their involvement 3. identify a mentor consultant to lead the mentorship training workshops, administer assessment tools and provide mentoring/coaching advice I've been asked to begin identifying mentors and will reach out to the community this week. Contact me via e-mail if you have interest in learning more about this exciting opportunity. I look forward to our involvement with this project and sharing our skills with the broader community! Respectfully, Sandra SANDRA M. PHOENIX Executive Director HBCU Library Alliance sphoenix@hbculibraries.org<mailto:sphoenix@hbculibraries.org> www.hbculibraries.org<http://www.hbculibraries.org/> 800-999-8558, ext. 4820 404-702-5854 Skype: sandra.phoenix1 1438 West Peachtree NW Suite 200 Atlanta,GA 30309 Toll Free: 1.800.999.8558 (LYRASIS) Fax: 404.892.7879 www.lyrasis.org<http://www.lyrasis.org/> Honor the ancestors, honor the children.