Thank you - Jose Aponte to run for Spectrum Funding

I did not meet José Aponte, one on one, but heard him speak twice
at ALA in Washington D.C. He was one of the most inspiring speakers
that I heard there. He is the one who told everyone to something
terrifying every day. Now he is also challenging himself physically
and to provide funding for the Spectrum Scholarship.

Thank you Jose Aponte - You are awesome and an inspiration!

ida


ALA Press release

For Immediate Release
September 11, 2007

Library director’s run to benefit ALA: Spectrum Scholarship Program

CHICAGO - San Diego County Library Director José Aponte announced today that he will be running in the Chicago Marathon to raise awareness and funds for the Spectrum Scholarship Program of the American Library Association (ALA). The 26.2 mile race will take place on October 7, 2007.

The Spectrum Scholarship Program’s major drive is to recruit applicants and award scholarships to American Indian/Alaska Native, Asian, Black/African American, Hispanic/Latino or Native Hawaiian and other Pacific Islander students. Spectrum provides a one-year $5,000 scholarship and over $1,500 in professional development opportunities to eligible students planning to attend an ALA-accredited graduate program in library and information studies or school library media program. There have been 495 scholarships awarded through the Spectrum Scholarship Program to date.

The Mission of the American Library Association Spectrum Scholarship Program is: “Improving service at the local level through the development of a representative workforce that reflects the communities served by all libraries in the new millennium.”

Aponte is a formerly ranked national duathlete and continues to participate in endurance sports, most recently completing the Barcelona Marathon in March 2007.

"The marathon and Spectrum have a nexus in my own life experiences,” said Aponte. “Simply, the marathon stretches us to the limits of our physical human potential, while the gift of the Masters in Library Sciences has opened my life to the inherent promise and potential within us all to create institutions that transform our communities, while building social capital that benefits us all in safer, healthier, prosperous futures."

Please join Aponte and his family in contributing to the Spectrum Scholarship, by sending a check or pledge to: ALA Development Office, Spectrum, 50 E. Huron St., Chicago, IL, 60611. Please make checks payable to the ALA Spectrum, memo Aponte Chicago Marathon.

To learn more about the Spectrum Scholarship Program, please visit: www.ala.org/spectrum or contact Gwendolyn Prellwitz at 312-280-5048, gprellwitz@ala.org.