Scholarships

Important Information About the Scholarships

• To be eligible you must be 1) a CLA member and 2) a CT resident or employed in a CT library.  A CLA Student Membership is available for $25 per year.  The institution where you are currently enrolled does not have to be based in CT.

• The deadline for applications is March 16, 2018 by 5:00 p.m..  Award recipients will be notified no later than April 2, 2018.
  Apply online here.

• You must be enrolled in, but have not yet graduated from, (with at least one course remaining to complete your studies), one of the following programs:

1.       An ALA accredited certification program (i.e. Certified Public Library Administrator)
2.       An LTA program
3.       A bachelor’s degree (BA or BS) in Library Science
4.       A Library Media Specialist degree
5.       An ALA-accredited MLS/MLIS degree
6.       A PhD in Library Science

•  Please send evidence on school or institutional letterhead of your enrollment in a qualified program.  A copy of your letter of acceptance is required if you are enrolled in an advanced degree program (MLS/MLIS, Library Media Specialist or PhD).  Scholarship funds will be sent directly to the institution being attended by the award winners for deposit in their student accounts.

• A minimum of two (2) references must be submitted with the application.  Greater weight will be given to references supplied by persons who are, or have been, professional librarians or who are engaged in teaching library course work.

•  Please include only professional affiliations (i.e. ALA, ACRL, YALSA, etc) or academic honors (i.e. Phi Beta Kappa) in the “memberships” portion of the application.

• If you have received an ALA Spectrum Scholarship, please submit an official notification of the award.

• Please send official transcripts of post-secondary education by the deadline.  Advanced degree students need only send official transcripts of completed Baccalaureate and other advanced degrees and should forward an official transcript of any work completed toward current advanced degree studies thus far.

• Scholarships are not automatically renewed; students must reapply.

•  Individuals will be eligible to receive awards valued at a minimum of $500 up to a maximum of $1,500 depending on the quality of the pool of applicants and type of program in which the applicants are enrolled.  The scholarship applications are judged by the CLA Career Development Committee, which has sole discretion over the types of scholarships to be awarded and the amounts to be granted.

• Award recipients will receive complimentary 1-day registration and lunch for the 2018 CLA Annual Conference.