The at the University of Â鶹´«Ã½ at ²Ñ¨¡²Ô´Ç²¹ has been awarded the Laura Bush 21st Century Librarian Program Grant from the .
The will fund a 3-year professional development program involving collaborative projects with LIS (part of the within the ), the Native Hawaiian Library of ALU LIKE, Inc., and professional public librarians of the Â鶹´«Ã½ State Public Library System. The project is called : Bridging Educational, Cultural, and Technical Exchange among Native and Public Libraries in Â鶹´«Ã½.
Vanessa Irvin, LIS assistant professor, is project director for Hui ʻEkolu. She said the award is a significant accomplishment within the field of library and information science.
Creating a model to engage local communities with indigenous populations
The funding will allow the hui ʻekolu (“three groups”) to collaborate to bring together pre-professionals, para-professionals and professionals in the library field. Thirteen teams will be formed (each with one pre-professional, para-professional and professional) to address and complete projects identified at various library sites. The cohorts will create opportunities for cross-learning between the participants while they work as a team to identify opportunities and create projects that benefit the local community at their assigned sites.
The project will not only benefit its participants and local community, but will create a model for how cross-learning, particularly in areas with large indigenous populations, can be achieved and result in programming that is more responsive and engaged with the local community.
“Hui ʻEkolu seeks to create a model for public librarian professional practice that positively situates native/indigenous knowledge as a framework for synthesizing LIS technical skills,” explained Irvin. “With this grant, Hui ʻEkolu will be able to create a professional development model for cross-learning, mentoring and professional development toward culturally competent and meaningful public library services in Â鶹´«Ã½ that can also be implemented in public library systems everywhere, particularly within native and indigenous communities.”