Mahanoy Librarian Named Recipient of the 2020 – 2021 Pat Carterette Professional Development Grant

By Learning Round Table

The Learning Round Table (LearnRT) of the American Library Association is pleased to announce that Jerilynne Stewart, corrections librarian at SCI Mahanoy, has been selected as this year's recipient of the Pat Carterette Professional Development Grant. As part of her award, Stewart will receive a $1,000 grant to attend a professional development event and will be matched with a LearnRT member-mentor for the year. Cheryl Wright (the manager of Organizational Learning & Development at the Indianapolis Marion County Public Library and LearnRT President) will serve in that role.

Stewart will use the grant to attend the Pennsylvania Library Association Conference in October 2020.  She has a documented history of continuous professional development.

In addition to being a 2019 Eisner Innovation Grant winner, Stewart has taken a course on the Prison Library as Agent of Rehabilitative Change and is currently enrolled in a paralegal program to better assist her patrons. The selection committee was also impressed with the ideas that Stewart has on how to share what she learns at the Pennsylvania Library Association Conference with the other correctional librarians in her state, who have limited opportunities to engage in professional development.

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.  Pat's 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.