DYERSVILLE LIBRARIAN, DAWN SCHRANDT, SELECTED TO PARTICIPATE IN “ILEAD USA” LIBRARY TECHNOLOGY AND LEADERSHIP SKILLS INSTITUTE

DYERSVILLE—Dawn Schrandt, who works as the Assistant Library Director at James Kennedy Public Library, has been selected to take part in ILEAD USA (Innovative Librarians Explore, Apply and Discover), a prestigious year-long program designed to help library staff understand and respond to user needs through the application of participatory technology tools and the creation of an easy-to-replicate model program.

Dawn Schrandt will serve as a team member along with fellow Iowa librarians and participants from Illinois, Colorado, Utah, and Ohio.  Participants take part in three four-day sessions over the course of nine months, beginning March 25-28. Teams use the skills and training acquired throughout the sessions to develop, implement, manage and evaluate the project.  They are assisted by instructors and mentors who provide instruction and guidance during the course of the sessions.

“I look forward to the opportunity to work with other area librarians to discuss our need for digital archives.  My hope is that by working together we can find a way to improve library services by providing a way for patrons to access information they have not been able to use before.  A digital archive will be available 24/7 from any location so it would be an excellent resource for researchers and genealogists alike.   I believe this project will greatly benefit our community and I look forward to learning about digital archives and creating a way to grant patrons access they haven’t had before.”

Iowa Library Services is partnering with the state libraries of Illinois, Colorado, Ohio and Utah to implement ILEAD USA through a Laura Bush 21st Century Librarian Program grant from the Institute of Museum and Library Services.  The Illinois State Library has hosted two extremely successful continuing education initiatives entitled ILEAD U (Illinois Libraries Explore, Apply and Discover), and ILEAD USA is an expansion of the program.

Other ILEAD USA sessions will be held June 17-20 and October 21-24.  Sessions will be held simultaneously in each of the five states, with plenary sessions on streaming video. In-person sessions, virtual meetings and activities will allow participants to hone their skills, experiment with participatory technology tools and continue communications with other ILEAD USA participants.