Press Release
August 8, 2003
Kent State University received $2 million in federal funds for this new library education project as part of the Omnibus Appropriations Bill for Fiscal Year 2003 signed into law by U.S. President George W. Bush. Grant partners at the University include, the School of Library and Information Science, the College and Graduate School of Education, and Libraries and Media Services.
Kent State University has created the Institute for Library and Information Literacy Education (ILILE) with this funding and sponsored the ILILE Summer Seminar August 6-8, 2003, for teachers, school library media specialists and administrators. Thirty teams were chosen from a pool of applicants from across the state of Ohio and included ____________________, ____________________ and ___________________ who were selected from the _______________________ school district.
U.S. Rep. Ralph Regula (R-OH), Chairman of the House Appropriations Subcommittee on Labor, Health and Human Services and Education was instrumental in securing the funding for the Institute . Representative Regula joined the participants for lunch and stated, "I am pleased to have been able to include federal funding for Kent State University to demonstrate how school librarians and classroom teachers can work together to enrich the curriculum of students. I am hopeful that the demonstration of this collaborative work will be used as a model to enhance the learning environment."
The ILILE Summer Seminar participants worked collaboratively to develop lesson plans they will use in their local school district which are based on the Ohio Department of Education's new Academic Content Standards. Teachers and librarians will work to incorporate information literacy and electronic resources into their activities throughout the academic year. ILILE will fund two hours of graduate credit for their work.
Participants heard presentations with nationally recognized experts Dr. Ross J. Todd of Rutgers University and Dr. Gail Bush of Dominican College who spoke on collaboration, information literacy and student achievement.
