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NCLA REMCo Roadbuilders' Award goes to Dr. Irene Owens
Dec. 11, 2007 - SILS alumna, Dr. Irene Owens, Ph.D. '95, has received the 2007 North Carolina Library Association's Roundtable for Ethnic Minority Concerns (REMCo) Roadbuilders' Award for Library Education. Owens is the dean of the School of Library and Information Science (SLIS) at North Carolina Central University (NCCU) in Durham, NC.
The REMCo Roadbuilders’ Award recognizes ethnic minority librarians in library education, academic, public, school and special libraries, who have served as pioneers in librarianship and who also represent a positive role model in the field. This award further recognizes ethnic minority librarians who exemplify courage, integrity, perseverance and who have contributed to the field of librarianship for their specific category.
Under Owens’s leadership, NCCU has received funding for a successful project from the Institute of Museum and Library Services (IMLS) for nearly $440,000. The project is entitled "Library as Place: The North Carolina Central University Diversity Scholars." Combined with over $316,000 in contributions from NCCU, the total project exceeds $750,000. The grant will allow the NCCU School of Library and Information Science (SLIS) to partner with public and school library systems from five counties in central North Carolina to recruit up to 16 minority students to earn master’s degrees in library and information science. Partners include Cumberland County Public Library & Information Center, Hyconeechee Regional Library, Durham County Library, the Public Schools of Robeson County, and Wake County Public Libraries. Scholarships will allow the students to research themes in public and school libraries while earning their degrees. Students will be expected to return to their libraries of origin or to public and school library systems in North Carolina upon graduation.
Owens was awarded the 2006 Distinguished Alumni Award from SILS, and is the recipient of numerous awards incluing an Outstanding Service Award and a Publications Award from Howard University (1986/87).
The Roadbuilders’ Award was established in 1989 by REMCo. The Roadbuilders’ Award recipients are recognized at a luncheon at the North Carolina Library Association Biennial Conference. For more information about the award and REMCo, visit the Ethnic Minority Concerns Web page on the North Carolina Library Association at: http://www.ncla.org/