Eileen Theodore-Shusta, Ohio University; Diversity Committee Chair

Stephanie Dawson Everett

The Diversity Committee is pleased to announce that Stephanie Dawson Everett was awarded the ALAO Diversity Scholarship for 2014/15 at last month’s annual conference. Ms Dawson Everett is the Manager of Marketing and Communications at the University of Akron, and is pursuing her Master’s degree at Kent State University. She writes in her application: “I work on a campus in an urban setting and thus we have a diverse student population in relation to age, socio-economic status and ethnic background. In addition to our students, we are also within walking distance of a homeless shelter and on a daily basis we have several community patrons that will spend their daylight hours with us. The mix of students and community patrons can be very interesting and sometimes challenging and there are people on campus who disagree with the library’s policy of serving all of our community, specifically those from the homeless shelter. However, we [at the University of Akron] have a commitment to serve all patrons and by doing so benefit not only the community patrons but students as well by exposing them to “real life” and diversity in our community. It’s a small way that we are upholding the Bill of Rights and Diversity Standards.”

New committee members needed

The Diversity Committee has a few vacant seats left for this year. We’re looking for someone willing to commit to a one year appointment, until next summer (which is really only six months!) Please contact Eileen Theodore-Shusta theodore@ohio.edu if you are interested in serving.   More information: www.alaoweb.org/committees/diversity/