Published: September 7, 2016

Both new and continuing students at SJSU’s School of Information continue to challenge the boundaries and limits of librarianship and creativity with their determination and ingenuity. Here are some inspiring examples and a few ways to flex your skills and passion to help pay your way through the program.

Scholarships for New Students
The iSchool’s Director’s Scholarship for Excellence is for students entering the MLIS program. Scholarship funds in the amount of $1000 are available for five qualified and chosen students fPasteor the spring semester. The application process is really fun (no, seriously) because you get to create a Pinterest board showing what librarianship and library school means to you. The review committee wants to see how potential students use their creativity, organizational skills and innovation to illustrate why they want to be an information professional or how they see their future in the profession. You shall be judged on your proficiency in pinning, so put those red letter P icons to work for you.

Winners for this fall’s scholarships (they could be in one of your classes this semester!) are Viola Allo, Michelle Peralta, Megan Smith, Paula Fox and Heather Bradshaw Dewsbury. Bradshaw Dewsbury created a rockin’ board illustrating her love of 80’s pop music and her passion for librarianship, while Megan Smith started with the basic ABC’s and built a Pinterest board with the alphabet. Paula Fox takes viewers on a visual road trip with a variety of people and through libraries in different cities.

Viola Allo’s scholarship Pinterest board is a tribute to her African heritage and life as a poet living in Cameroon. Check out her Pinterest board and see glorious images, illustrations of African reference titles and children’s books and African proverbs that will make you stop in your internet-searching-tracks and think for a moment. Michelle Peralta’s winning board entitled ‘In Defense of Wonder’ takes the viewer through an adventure of librarian and information professional futures.

If you have been accepted to SJSU’s School of Information graduate program and have an undergraduate GPA of at least 3.5, then you can apply by filling out the application form (which opens on October 1, 2016) and link the URL for you Pinterest board. Even after you’ve turned in the form, you’ll have until the deadline (December 1, 2016) to polish up your pins and add to your board. The scholarship board won’t review the entries until after the deadline. If you have any questions about the Director’s Scholarship for Excellence, contact the iSchool’s student services team.

Scholarships for Current Students
If you are a current student and wish you could make a Pinterest board for scholarship prizes, don’t fret because you’ll get your chance to apply in March for a wide variety of fall scholarships. If you’re a continuing student looking for funds for the upcoming spring semester, note the Robert Ellet scholarship that awards $1000 to one student per semester who has taken a cataloging class—aka Info 248 or 249 Beginning and Advanced Cataloging and Classification.

Scholarships for All Students
While the majority of scholarships from other library organizations are offered in the spring for the following fall semester, there are a number available. Several scholarships are offered through the Black Caucuses of the ALA and the CLA for minority students. Special library associations including the Medical Library Association and school library associations like the CSLA have available scholarships if you fit the bill. Be sure to check each organization’s website for exact deadlines and application details so you don’t miss out because of technicalities.

Wherever you are in your graduate school career, there are financial ways of making it happen and creativity, innovation and organization help. That’s why you’d make a great information professional!

For more information about how to get help paying for graduate school check out these blog posts and be sure to look through the Funding category:
Tips to Get You Started as You Apply for Financial Aid

Scholarship Opportunities for the Spring Semester with the iSchool and Beyond 2015

1-Unit Courses Offer Financial Solutions, Further Flexibility and Finding Career Opportunities

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