APALA Scholarship

Purpose

The Asian Pacific American Librarians Association Scholarship will provide financial assistance to a student of Asian or Pacific background who is enrolled, or has been accepted into, a master’s or doctoral degree program in library and/or information science at a school accredited by the American Library Association (ALA).

Eligibility Criteria for the Award

Applicant must be attending or admitted into a master’s degree or doctoral program in library and/or information science at a school accredited by ALA.
Applicant must be in library school by Fall 2012.
Applicant may be either a full-time or part-time student.
Applicant must be of Asian/Pacific Islander heritage.
Applicant must be a citizen or permanent resident of the U. S. or Canada.
Recipient may not receive more than one scholarship award.
Recipient must join APALA and become an active member, as well as serve on the Scholarship Committee the following year.

How to Apply

Please enclose the following items in your application package:

Completed Application Form (PDF Download)
Resume
One page essay on ONE of the following topics:

What is your vision of the librarian’s role in the 21st century?

What contributions can you make as an APA Librarian?

Copies of the letter of acceptance to an ALA accredited library school and library graduate school transcript or undergraduate transcript.
Two letters of recommendation. Letters should highlight the applicant’s academic and personal abilities and his/her potential to make positive contributions to the library profession.

Scholarship applications and all supporting documents should be submitted to the APALA Scholarship Committee Chair and must be received via email with “APALA Scholarship” as the subject no later than April 30.

Selection Procedures and Timeline

The Scholarship Committee Chair will receive the completed Application Packages by April 30.
Copies of the application packages received will be distributed to the Scholarship Committee members by May 11.
The Scholarship Committee members will review the applications and submit recommendations for scholarship recipients to the Committee Chair by May 31.
The Committee Chair will select recipient by June 1 and notify the recipient as well as the other applicants who were not selected.
A scholarship check will be distributed to the recipient by August 30. Proof of enrollment for the fall semester in an accredited graduate program must be provided to the Scholarship Committee beforehand.

Administrative Procedures

The scholarship shall be administered under the By Laws of APALA.
One $1000 scholarship will be awarded. However, if the Scholarship Fund should grow to an extent that sufficient income is available to finance more than one scholarship in a given year, the Scholarship Committee shall have the authority to award additional scholarships as authorized by the Executive Board. Additional scholarships will be awarded based on the same criteria and factors stated above.
In the event that no applicants satisfy the selection criteria in a given year, no scholarship will be awarded, with the option to grant additional scholarships the following year.

Contact Information

The Scholarship Committee Chair must receive the completed application packages by April 30. If you have any further questions or need additional information, please contact the APALA Research & Travel Award Committee co-chairs, Safi Safiullah at ssafiullah@slcpl.org or Gayatri Singh at gasingh@ucsd.edu.

Heawon Paick

Chair, APALA Scholarship Committee

Junipero Serra Branch

Los Angeles Public Library

Phone: (323) 846-5382

Fax: (323) 846-5389

Email: heawonpaick@gmail.com

Past APALA Scholarship Winners

Jina Park (2011)
Harrison W. Inefuku (2010)
Vivian Wong (2009)
Michael Habata (2008)
Julian Yoko Prentice (2007)
Lana Thelen (2006)
Richard Le (2005)
Jody Lovaj (2004)
Florante Ibanez and Thu Phuong Hoang Nguyen (2003)
Todd Honma and Eydie Detera (2002)