Wayne State University was awarded one of 35 Institute of Museum and Library Services (IMLS) grants as announced by First Lady Laura Bush on June 26.

The Wayne State Library System received $851,018 for a project called “Recruiting and Educating the 21st Century Fine and Performing Arts Librarian.” In this project, the Library System will establish a Detroit-based collaborative to educate new librarians about fine and performing arts librarianship.

The grants are designed to help offset a current shortage of school library media specialists, library school faculty and librarians working in underserved communities, as well as a looming shortage of library directors and other senior librarians, many of whom are expected to retire in the next 20 years.

“Libraries in all their forms, whether public, school, specialized, or academic, play a vital role in building a nation of learners,” said Dr. Anne-Imelda M. Radice, Director of the IMLS. “Without well-trained and educated librarians, library service suffers.”

Partners in the Detroit collaborative will include the Detroit Institute of Arts, the Detroit Symphony Orchestra and the Michigan Opera Theater. Stipends will be used to attract 12 individuals, with an emphasis on underrepresented groups, and place them in mentor relationships with senior librarians. In addition to earning master’s degrees in library and information science from Wayne State University, the recruits will receive practical training from mentors in building and organizing a new library; managing an orchestra library; providing services in a well-established library; and providing services to faculty in an academic environment.

Recruitment of the class will begin during the summer of 2006, with the first class being offered in fall 2007.