CCPL Selected for First-of-its-Kind Internship Program

Charleston County Public Library (CCPL) will participate in a connected learning summer internship program sponsored by the Public Library Association (PLA), a division of the American Library Association (ALA). Through its Inclusive Internship Initiative (III), PLA is sponsoring paid, mentored public library internships for 50 high school juniors and seniors from diverse backgrounds nationwide. With individual guidance from a mentor, CCPL’s intern will engage with multiple facets of library life, including programming, user services and administrative operations. Over the course of the summer, the intern and mentor will also develop program guides for new library branches, which were approved for construction through the 2014 referendum.

CCPL has selected Shanequa Rainey as its summer 2017 intern. Rainey will enter her senior year at Burke High School this fall. She was selected based upon her academic standing, application essay, interview and letter of recommendation. Rainey will work closely with her appointed mentor, Outreach and Programming Librarian Megan Summers, throughout the internship. Summers and Rainey will travel to Washington, D.C. later this month for III’s summer kickoff event.

This internship project will immediately benefit the participating students and libraries. Library staff will better understand how to foster early career pathways to librarianship while also gaining appreciation for their own roles and efforts to support diversity along those paths. Students will learn about the many ways librarians positively serve their communities and also gain tools to determine their educational goals and potential interest in future library service or leadership roles. Interns and mentors will have opportunities to connect with their counterparts at participating libraries across the country.

This program is funded by PLA with support from a pre-professional Laura Bush 21st Century Librarian Program Grant (grant RE-00-17-0129-17) from the Institute of Museum and Library Services.

For additional information about the Inclusive Internship Initiative, click here https://apply.ala.org/plinterns.

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Editor’s Note – This is an unedited press release

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