[July 04, 2006] UA gets grants to help small-town libraries, digital curation Tweet (Arizona Daily Star, The (Tucson) (KRT) Via Thomson Dialog NewsEdge) Jul. 4--Small-town libraries across the state will benefit from $1.9 million in grants the University of Arizona has received for graduate fellowships serving libraries in rural communities and a new program in digital curation. The School of Information Resources and Library Science received two Laura Bush 21st Century Librarian grants, from the Institute of Museum and Library Services, the primary source of federal support for the nation's 122,000 libraries and 17,500 museums. Over the next three years, the school will place at least 25 graduate students in small and rural libraries through internship or staff positions. The program will be a collaboration with the Arizona State Library, Archives and Public Records, funded with a $930,000 grant. The state library will provide mentors to the students and the school's distance-learning courses will enable them to earn master's degrees while working in rural communities. The school will use a second Laura Bush 21st Century Librarian grant of $960,000 to develop a new certificate program in digital curation. The explosion in digital collections at libraries has created a shortage in librarians trained to manage the information potential of the new technology. Both new and current librarians will benefit from the program. For more information on the programs, visit the School of Information Resources and Library Science at www.sir.arizona.edu online. --Contact reporter Eric Swedlund at 573-4115 or at [email protected]. [ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ]