49th Annual RBMS Preconference Scholarship Recipients

Outside the 26th Annual Academy Awards at
RKO Pantages Theater in Los Angeles, California, 1954.
Changing Times: Los Angeles in Photographs, 1920-1990
UCLA Library Department of Special Collections

The Preconference Scholarship Committee received a remarkable 78 applications this year. With support from ACRL and generous RBMS members, a total of 22 scholarships were awarded for this year's preconference to a cross-section of graduate students and professionals. The winners were selected from a competitive pool following a blind review. Priority was given to applicants with a demonstrable or clearly expressed interest in RBMS, those with a demonstrable or clearly articulated background or interest in special collections, and applicants from backgrounds under-represented in the profession.

The 22 scholarships (a $12,015 value) were funded by the ACRL Action Plan, profits from the 2007 RBMS Preconference, and $885 in donations by individual RBMS members.

Thank you to everyone who donated funds, applied for scholarships, and expressed interest in the scholarship program. Your contributions and energetic efforts truly make a difference in sustaining this important program!

The 2009 RBMS Preconference, a fiftieth anniversary, will be held in Charlottesville, Virginia, from Wednesday, June 17 through Saturday, June 20, 2009. We look forward to your continued support and participation in that scholarship program as well, which will include a "golden" scholarship campaign to assist both new and former/retired members of the profession. Details about the application process for the 2009 RBMS Preconference will be distributed in January 2009.

Please join the RBMS Executive Committee and Scholarship Committee in recognizing the 2008 scholarship recipients. RBMS members attending the preconference in Los Angeles are warmly encouraged to congratulate and welcome award winners in person.

CONGRATULATIONS, SCHOLARSHIP WINNERS!

Spectators waving and taking photographs outside the
59th Academy Awards in Los Angeles, California, 1986.
Changing Times: Los Angeles in Photographs, 1920-1990
UCLA Library Department of Special Collections

Judy Allen Dodson, North Carolina Central University
Christopher Caldwell, University of Tennessee Knoxville
Laura Capell, The University of Southern Mississippi
Lara Chmela, Syracuse University
Mark Danley, University of Memphis
Audra Eagle, UCLA
Carlene Engstrom, Salish Kootenai College
Lara Friedman-Shedlov, YMCA Archives - University of Minnesota
Ana Guimaraes, Cornell University
Rebecca Hirsch, New York University
Sarah Horowitz, Augustana College
Stephanie Horowitz, University of Minnesota
Melissa Hubbard, Southern Illinois University - Carbondale
Robin Katz, Kent State University
Jason Kovari, University at Buffalo, SUNY
Rachel Leff, UCLA
Michael Morris, Indiana University Bloomington
Melissa Nykanen, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
Charlene Peacock, Rutgers University
Rukshana Singh, Southern California Library for Social Studies and Research
Juli Williams, University of Iowa
Anna Wyatt, University of Oklahoma