First Post received

Thanks for whoever looked at my blog and posted back about the Emerging Leaders Program. I did get a point wrong that The participants are soon to be librarians, they are librarians. A friend of mine applied and was accepted to the E.L. program while in library school, not quite yet a librarian, but i should have checked the facts.

I stand with my position that I wish that there were more support and visibility within ALA for Spectrum. The Spectrum program which last year had it's largest group of 69 scholars last year is funded through "individuals and organizations above and to a substantial grant from the Institute of Museum and Library Services...source "http://www.ala.org/ala/diversity/spectrum/spectrumscholarsb/specscholars05.htm

I saw Betty Turlock herself - write a check for $10,000 for the program and present it at the Spectrum luncheon. Leslie Burger wasn't there.

There is some funding of emerging leaders through all programs that sponsor an Emerging Leader of about $1,000 per E.L. which had 100 the first year and will have 120 this next year. In a few years it will top the total number of Spectrum Scholars which to date is 415.

So proportionally, there will be more of an emphasis on young emerging leaders, rather than getting diverse librarians into the library profession to be trained to be leaders.

I looked through the ALA flickr pictures of those in emerging leaders and others can do the same to make their judgments as to whether or not it is a diverse program or not.