The Association of Research Libraries (ARL) is honored to participate in a recently awarded Institute of Museum and Library Services (IMLS) National Leadership Grant for Libraries. Kevin Borden, ARL senior director for Research and Analytics, will serve as an advisor to the Illinois Fire Service Institute Library at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign’s project, Libraries as Partners for Emergency Preparedness and Response in Times of Crisis.
The Libraries as Partners project is a $150,000 two-year investigation into partnerships between libraries of all types and community emergency response partners during crises. The project will be guided at every step by a network of state and national advisors. In Year 1, through close collaboration with state advisors, the project will focus on a case study survey of the partnerships between Illinois libraries and community emergency response groups. In Year 2, national advisors will help bring the conversation to the national level through the development of two Community Engagement Roundtable discussions on the survey findings and themes. This project will discover and promote the essential role that libraries play in community safety and well-being, and serve as the conversation starter for future discussions, collaborations, and research on library-community partnerships.
The project joins as co-partners the Illinois Fire Service Institute (IFSI), the Consortium of Academic and Research Libraries in Illinois (CARLI), and the School of Information Sciences at the University of Illinois (iSchool). The project team includes Lian Ruan, IFSI head librarian and director of IFSI International Programs, as project director; Jessie Chin, assistant professor at the iSchool, as research director; Sharon L. Comstock, teaching assistant professor at the iSchool, as coordinator for the Advisory Committee and National Advisory Board; Anne Craig, director of CARLI, as member engagement coordinator; Karen Brown, professor emerita, School of Information Studies, Dominican University, as facilitator; and Kelda Habing, IFSI research and grants librarian, as project assistant.
Stay tuned for future updates about the Libraries as Partners project in the next few months. For more details, see the IMLS news release, “IMLS Announces $20 Million Investment in US Library and Archive Initiatives.”
About the Association of Research Libraries
The Association of Research Libraries (ARL) is a nonprofit organization of research libraries in Canada and the US whose vision is to create a trusted, equitable, and inclusive research and learning ecosystem and prepare library leaders to advance this work in strategic partnership with member libraries and other organizations worldwide. ARL’s mission is to empower and advocate for research libraries and archives to shape, influence, and implement institutional, national, and international policy. ARL develops the next generation of leaders and enables strategic cooperation among partner institutions to benefit scholarship and society. ARL is on the web at ARL.org.
About the Illinois Fire Service Institute Library
The Illinois Fire Service Institute Library (IFSI Library) provides fire/emergency library and information assistance and services to the Institute’s instructional staff, students, Illinois fire departments and firefighters, and other fire/emergency-related users in the successful and effective performance of their jobs. The IFSI Library collection contains more than 14,000 books, videos, DVDs, films, and CDs. The collection also contains periodicals, fire codes, pamphlets, standards, technical reports, legislation, and newsletters. The IFSI Library is on the web at www.fsi.illinois.edu/content/library/.
About the Institute of Museum and Library Services
The Institute of Museum and Library Services is the primary source of federal support for the nation’s libraries and museums. We advance, support, and empower America’s museums, libraries, and related organizations through grantmaking, research, and policy development. IMLS envisions a nation where individuals and communities have access to museums and libraries to learn from and be inspired by the trusted information, ideas, and stories they contain about our diverse natural and cultural heritage. To learn more, visit www.imls.gov and follow us on Facebook and Twitter.
