Two UNC School of Information and Library Science (SILS) master’s students, Kimberley Henze and Kodi Saylor, have received scholarships from the Association of College & Research Libraries (ACRL) to attend the ACRL Conference, March 22-25, 2017, in Baltimore, Md. The scholarships cover registration costs, provide $600 to defray travel expenses, and include invitations to the ACRL Scholarship Recipient Breakfast and First-time Attendee Orientation. Recipients are selected based on a written application that explains how attending the conference will support their career goals and a recommendation from an advisor, mentor, or professor.
Henze, who previously received a Baker & Taylor Scholarship to attend the SILS Summer Seminar to Prague in 2016, is the Undergraduate Engagement RA at UNC’s R.B. House Undergraduate Library and the Promotion and Planning RA for the Learning from Artists' Archives Project. She will graduate in May with master’s degrees in both art history and library science. Henze says she particularly wanted to attend the ACRL conference to network with “movers and shakers in the field,” and for sessions on innovative outreach programs, emerging technologies, and community collaborations.
“ACRL is, in my mind, where the most innovative conversations are happening, and I'm excited to embrace every conversation and challenge that the conference offers,” Henze said.
Saylor, a second-year MSLS student, is also an RA at the Undergraduate Library, where she works at the research and design desk, teaches information literacy sessions for first-year composition courses, performs research consultations, and assists with collections development, among other duties. She is interested in pursuing a career in academic libraries, which made the ACRL conference an ideal opportunity to broaden her understanding of the field and enable her to join larger conversations about the role of librarianship in higher education.
“Without the scholarship, I could not afford to attend and I am very excited to participate in my first ACRL Conference,” Saylor said. “I’m especially looking forward to talking with other academic librarians about my master's paper's topic, which is research consultations, and how those work at other institutions.”
