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Community and Membership : Career development

Career Development

OCLC recognizes that library staff must continue to develop their skills and knowledge in order to meet the challenges of a demanding library environment in a rapidly changing information age.

Through a series of annual awards and scholarships, OCLC provides financial support for those beginning their library careers and for established professionals who excel in their endeavors.

OCLC also encourages research in the library and information science fields by awarding up to three grants of $15,000 apiece per year to researchers; these grants are awarded in partnership with the Association of Library and Information Science Education (ALISE).

Through the OCLC Library and Information Science Education Program, OCLC provides LIS students at ALA-accredited schools with hands-on use of reference, resource sharing, cataloging, and other OCLC services.

Since 2001, OCLC has hosted the IFLA/OCLC Early Career Development Fellowship Program, a joint initiative with the American Theological Association (ATLA) and the International Federation of Library Associations and Institutions (IFLA). Through this program a small group of early career librarians from developing nations spends four weeks in the United States and one week in Europe participating in a variety of programs and events that enhance their careers and enable them to share knowledge that broadens OCLC's understanding of librarianship around the world.

OCLC also actively supports the American Library Association's Spectrum Initiative, a project that provides scholarships to library and information science schools for African American, Latino/Hispanic, Asian/Pacific Islanders and Native American/Alaskan Native students. Since 2001, OCLC has financially supported the Spectrum Initiative and has hosted scholarship dinners as part of its fund-raising efforts.

In 2008, OCLC launched the OCLC Minority Librarian Fellowship program designed to provide a unique opportunity for aspiring library professionals from historically under-represented groups.

OCLC annual awards and scholarships