The Department of Information Studies at UCLA’s Graduate School of Education & Information Studies is pleased to announce that it is one of seven recipients of a grant from the federal Institute of Museum and Library Services. The grant will fund a one-year project training eight professional librarians in research, information technology and policy to prepare them for future doctoral studies. Additionally, it will award participants a post-Masters of Library and Information Science certificate and will assist them in preparing study plans for doctoral programs.

“The grant enables us to sponsor a group of local librarians, furthering their education and providing them access to the latest advances in library and information science,� said Information Studies Associate Professor and Principal Investigator Clara Chu.

“Our nation is currently facing a shortage of librarians,� said Robert S. Martin, director of the Institute of Museum and Library Services. “Increasingly, people are relying on librarians to help them navigate the Information Highway. We need to retain and retrain the librarians we have, and we need to recruit a whole new generation of librarians to work in our nation’s public and private libraries, colleges, and universities.�

The Institute of Museum and Library Services is a federal grant-making agency located in Washington, D.C., that fosters leadership, innovation and a lifetime of learning by supporting museums and libraries.

One of 11 professional schools at UCLA, the Graduate School of Education & Information Studies consists of two academic departments: the Department of Education and the Department of Information Studies. The Graduate School of Education was founded in 1939 and was UCLA’s first professional school. The School of Library Service was founded in 1958. The two schools merged in 1994, forming the Graduate School of Education & Information Studies.

UCLA is the only major research university in the country that combines departments of education and information studies. The school shares its findings with practicing educators and information professionals through classes, seminars and workshops offered at UCLA and in the community, and through reports, studies and articles featured in publications nationwide.
It is also home to the Corinne A. Seeds University Elementary School, the only university-based pre-kindergarten through sixth grade laboratory school in the country.

In 2002 in the field of education, the school ranked No. 2, tied with Harvard University, and moving up two places from last year’s ranking, according to U.S. News & World Report’s annual listing of top U.S. schools.