Meetings Sweetened for Students

By Ramona Howerton, President, SLA Illinois

The Chapter is pleased to announce that Scott Marriott of Marriott Information Services LLC (http://www.marriottis.com) will underwrite the cost of chapter meetings for graduate students in library programs. For the 2006-2007 year, students will be reimbursed for the $25 registration fee. "Beyond the overt marketing ploy," Marriott explained, "the more students who attend the meetings, the more opportunities they have in establishing an interest in, and hopefully a commitment to, the SLA as our profession splinters more and more into non-traditional avenues." "My own fairly non-traditional career in special libraries is really owed to a free SLA New York 'Careers in Special Libraries' roundtable at the Mid-Manhattan library in New York City," he added. "My attendance at that meeting literally led to my first 'real' job that next week as a library clerk in a large investment bank."

To take advantage of this generous offer, students must:

  • Be currently registered in an ALA-accredited Library and Information Science program. 
  • Pre-register for the event by visiting http://www.slaillinois.org. See "Upcoming Events." 
  • Pay in advance before the registration deadline.

Students will be directly reimbursed at the meeting. "While I know that simply writing a check can never repay the opportunities I've found in our field," said Marriott, "I hope this is just a start of a much larger commitment Marriott Information Services can make to help grow the profession."

For more information, contact Ramona Howerton at ramona.howerton@duffandphelps.com or 312-697-4672.