Team of Librarians from Purdue University, University of Arizona and University of Nebraska-Lincoln awarded $250K IMLS Grant

Catherine Fraser Riehle, Associate Professor, University of Nebraska-Lincoln Libraries, is a co-project lead on a $249,179 grant awarded by the Laura Bush 21^st Century Librarian Program via the Institute of Museum and Library Services (IMLS) in early July. The award supports the project “Academic Librarian Curriculum Developers: Building Capacity to Integrate Information Literacy across the University,” which supports collaborative integration of information literacy into curricula.

During the three-year project (July 1, 2019-June 30, 2022) the team will collaborate with classroom instructors to develop disciplinary-based, information literacy curricula. In addition to Riehle, project team leaders include Clarence Maybee, project lead, Purdue; Michael Flierl, co-project lead, The Ohio State University; and Maribeth Slebodnik, co-project lead, University of Arizona.

The project will apply a learning design model that underscores the role information plays in the learning process. Academic library professionals will partner with disciplinary instructors to integrate information literacy into courses and assess outcomes of the resulting curricula.

“Solid information literacy skills contribute to a student’s success in school and life,” noted Riehle. “I am thrilled to be part of this collaborative effort to integrate information literacy into curricula at three large research universities.” 

The project team will recruit academic library professionals and disciplinary instructors for participation this winter 2019 and spring 2020. Additional information about the IMLS grant award is available at www.imls.gov/grants/awarded/re-13-19-0021-19.