Financial Help

Scholarships, financial aid and internships are available from a wide variety of organizations, associations and even some libraries.

If you are already employed by a library, the first thing you should do is talk to your employer to find out if your organization offers any support. This may come in the form of a flexible schedule, allowing you to conduct school projects and internships while being paid, or even scholarships from the library or its Friends group.

The next step is to investigate scholarships available through a wide variety of state and national library associations.

 The ALA Scholarship Program offers many general scholarships along with specialized scholarships targeted to support staff, youth services, school media specialists, and members of underrepresented groups. ALA also creates the annual directory, Financial Assistance for Library and Information Studies (PDF) , which documents state library agencies, national and state library associations, local libraries, academic institutions, and foundations that give some form of financial assistance for undergraduate and/or graduate education programs in library and information studies. You may also consider contacting the state library or regional association directly for further information.

It's a good idea to contact individual graduate library education programs for information about specific financial assistance opportunities available at that institution including scholarships, work programs, and financial aid .  Directory of ALA-Accredited Programs

You may also want to check out FastWeb, an initiative of Monster.com, which claims to search 1.3 million scholarships worth over $3 billion, or the Scholarship Links on the Become a Librarian! Site.

Diversity Scholarships

  • Spectrum Scholarship Program is an American Library Association initiative to diversify the national library workforce.
  •  ARL (Association of Research Libraries) Initiative to Recruit a Diverse Workforce offers a stipend of up to $10,000 to attract and expose new library professionals from underrepresented groups to careers in academic and research libraries.
  • The Asian/Pacific American Librarians Association Scholarship provides 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 library school accredited by the American Library Association.
  • The ALA Century Scholarship, established by ASCLA ( The Association of Specialized and Cooperative Library Agencies) recruits people with disabilities to the library profession.
  • The BCALA (Black Caucus of the American Library Association) sponsors the E.J. Josey Scholarship Award for African American students enrolled in, or accepted by, ALA accredited programs.

Resources