The grant funds UT's Science Links program, where qualified students will receive full scholarships to earn a master's degree through the UT School of Information Sciences. Special emphasis will be placed on recruiting candidates from traditionally black colleges and universities. Students will take courses specifically designed to train librarians to assist in scientific and technological research. Students will also gain practical job experience by working at the UT Libraries, Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL), the Department of Energy's Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI), and Information International Associates (IIa).

"The School of Information Sciences is extremely proud to be a partner in the Science Links project, which targets populations underrepresented in the profession and at the same time addresses the deepening shortage of science and technology librarians. Situated in an ideal environment rich in technological research and development, the students recruited to this two-year educational program will benefit from exposure to 'real-world' experience serving scholars, researchers and others associated with science and technology. A special aim of Science Links is to provide the library and information education community with a model for educating subject specialist librarians," Ed Cortez, Director and Professor of the UT School of Information Studies, said.

"This is a model program that addresses a well-documented shortage of librarians, especially those with science backgrounds," Barbara Dewey, Dean of UT Libraries, said. "UT is uniquely qualified to educate science librarians, thanks to the first-class scientific research facilities located in East Tennessee. There is a special way that librarians interact with scientists in order to meet their research needs, and by gaining experience at places like ORNL and OSTI, these recent library school graduates will have unparalleled job experience along with their professional degree training," Dewey continued.

UT is one of only 37 schools to be awarded grant monies in this IMLS program from a pool of nearly 90 applicants.

"Librarianship is absolutely critical to the nation's education infrastructure. There is a strong correlation between good school libraries and student academic achievement. Public librarians help their communities increase literacy rates, provide top-notch after school programs, and even assist local residents in finding jobs. And in this digital age, library science professionals are more important than ever. Anyone who has had the experience of searching for information on the World Wide Web and had over 10,000 references returned would agree," Robert S. Martin, Director of IMLS, said.

The current shortage of school library media specialists, library school faculty, and librarians working in underserved communities underscores a looming crisis in librarianship as fewer faculty are being prepared to educate new librarians and a greater number of professional positions are going unfilled. Additionally, a large percentage of library directors and other senior librarians are expected to retire in the next twenty years. Consequently, the shortage of professional librarians, especially of those in leadership positions, is likely to increase.

The Institute of Museum and Library Services is an independent Federal grant-making agency dedicated to creating and sustaining a nation of learners by helping libraries and museums serve their communities.

The University of Tennessee supports more than 20,000 undergraduate and 6,000 graduate students in 400 academic programs in 15 schools and colleges, including nearly 200 students in the School of Information Sciences.

For more information about the University of Tennessee's School of Information Sciences, please visit their Web site.

For more information about the UT Libraries, please visit their Web site.