FTRF Scholarship Opportunity
Judith F. Krug Memorial Fund IF Course Scholarship Application Open until Nov. 19, 2020
The Freedom to Read Foundation (FTRF), is excited to announce a scholarship for the Spring 2021 seminar, Intellectual Freedom and Young Adults, offered through San Jose State University School of Information (SJSU iSchool).
The 3-credit online seminar led by instructor Beth Wrenn-Estes runs from January 27 – May 17, 2021. The course will focus on intellectual freedom issues with youth, the value of youth literature to enhance individuals’ lives, the ethics of intellectual freedom, the psychology of censorship and how to combat it, and how to defend materials for youth. Before Wrenn-Estes started teaching for SJSU full-time she was a youth services librarian. She is passionate about libraries and especially serving youth. Wrenn-Estes received the iSchool Outstanding Teacher Award in 2012 and The Most Distinguished (Faculty) Service award in 2014.
The scholarship covers half the cost of the course and is open to any student enrolled in a LIS degree program. As part of a collaboration between FTRF and SJSU, staff and volunteers will lend their expertise as guest speakers, and the FTRF and ALA Office for Intellectual Freedom archival materials will be made available to students.
Applications for the scholarships are due November 19 and recipients will be announced by December 1, 2020. You may apply here.
Students enrolled in programs affiliated with the WISE consortium will be provided course credit automatically upon completion of the course. Others will need to coordinate course credit with their home institution.
For more information regarding registration please contact Sheila.Gurtu@sjsu.edu at the SJSU iSchool.
Founded in 1969, the Freedom to Read Foundation is a nonprofit legal and educational organization that promotes and protects the freedom of speech and the freedom of the press and safeguards the public’s access to information and materials stored in our nation’s libraries. The foundation also supplies libraries and librarians with legal counsel in their defense of First Amendment rights.
In addition to its litigation and legal advocacy in defense of First Amendment freedoms, the foundation supports projects and programs to educate librarians and the public about the importance of defending the right to read and speak freely by providing grants to libraries, schools, and community institutions across the country. FTRF also supports and funds initiatives and scholarship programs to improve intellectual freedom education for LIS professionals and students.