San Antonio cohort graduates look ahead to their future as School Librarians

While the month of August marks the beginning of a new school year for many, for a small group of soon-to-be school librarians in San Antonio, it was the end of a two-year journey to earn their MLIS degrees with School Librarian Certification. The families and friends of 31 Department of Information Science (IS) graduates filled the Bexar Room at the Education Service Center-Region 20 in San Antonio on Saturday, August 11, 2018 to celebrate the accomplishments of a new group of future school librarians.

“The recognition ceremony was an enthusiastic family event that celebrated the graduation success of the school librarian cohort students,” said Barbara Schultz-Jones, associate professor and director of the school library program and San Antonio cohort.

The ceremony opened with greetings from Dr. Schultz-Jones who welcomed everyone and introduced the keynote speaker, Marty Rossi. A UNT graduate of the Master's in Library Science program, Rossi is the Project Manager, Digital Resources & Library Services at the ESC 20. Rossi provided motivation to the group of graduates, speaking about librarianship and the importance of service to customers. Nicole Meneses, the student speaker provided stories of how the small group worked closely together throughout their journey, and thanked their families and friends for their support. Dean of the College of Information, Dr. Kinshuk, participated in the hooding of the graduates and Dr. Yunfei Du, associate dean of the College of Information and interim chair of the IS department encouraged graduates in his closing remarks.

The San Antonio Cohort was a collaboration with the North East ISD, Northside ISD and the Education Service Center—Region 20.

“The cohort was formed at the request of two San Antonio school districts who forecast a high need for qualified and strong school librarian candidates,” said Schultz-Jones. “The IS Department was pleased to offer the cohort format to San Antonio students as a way to build competence through a professional learning experience.”

Students began their studies in June 2016, with onsite meetings held at the ESC 20, and the remainder of courses offered online. The school librarian program at UNT is one of the best in the nation, and has been consistently ranked in the Top 10 programs by U.S. News & World Report.

A reception was held after the ceremony for the graduates and their families.

Photo: Graduates gather for a photo after ceremony