Allison Porch receives 2019 – 2020 Pat Carterette Professional Development Grant

CHICAGO — The Learning Round Table (LearnRT) of the American Library Association is pleased to announce that Allison Porch, marketing coordinator at the Carol Stream Public Library, is this year’s recipient of the Pat Carterette Professional Development Grant.  As part of her award, Porch will receive a $1,000 grant to attend a professional development event and she will be matched with a LearnRT member-mentor for the year.  Angela Glowcheski, deputy director at the Sequoyah Regional Library System and LearnRT President, will serve in that role.

Porch will use the grant to attend the IDEAL ’19: Advancing Inclusion, Diversity, Equity, and Accessibility in Libraries & Archives conference in Columbus, Ohio.  She said, “these topics are paramount to the future of libraries.”  She hopes, with the knowledge gained at the conference, that she “will be able to lead the conversation about diversity, equity, and access” at her library.    

She is committed to continuous learning.  Among other things, she has completed over 110 hours of formal professional development in the past couple of years, and she regularly engages in informal learning activities as well.  In addition, she gives back to the library community, most recently through presenting a conference session for “Solo and Accidental Library Marketers” at the Illinois Library Association Conference.  The grant committee was impressed with Porch’s plan to share the knowledge she learns at the IDEAL ’19 conference with staff at her library and the library community more broadly.

This grant is designed to honor the passion that Pat Carterette, a past-President of LearnRT, had for professional development in the field of library and information sciences.  Her legacy is focused on providing outstanding educational opportunities for her colleagues to grow and develop within their career field.  Funding for the grant comes from pre-conference events and sponsorship of the LearnRT Training Showcase.

The application period for the 2020 – 2021 grant will open in the fall of 2019 and close on February 15, 2020.  The grant application will be advertised on the ALA site.  The ALA Offices and Member Relations serves as the liaison to LearnRT.