The American Library Association's (ALA) Office for Diversity announced the winners of the 2013-14 Spectrum Scholarships with six University of Washington Information School master of library and information science (MLIS) students among the 51 winners. The UW iSchool received the most awards of any MLIS graduate program in the country.

Winners include: Twanna Hodge (Louise Giles Scholar), Melissa Kahili (ALA/ProQuest Bash Scholar), Aiyanna Looney (ALA/ProQuest Bash Scholar), Mario Macias, Kimberly R. Tate (NLM/MLA Scholar), and Lisa L. Tyler (OCLC Scholar).

According to the ALA press release, the 2013 Spectrum Scholarship Program received three times as many applications as there were available scholarships. A committee of six jurors selected this year’s Spectrum Scholars based on their commitment to diversity, commitment to entering the library profession, demonstrated community outreach, academic ability and achievements and leadership potential. Since 1997, the ALA has awarded more than 800 Spectrum Scholarships.

Spectrum recruits and provides scholarships to American Indian/Alaska Native, Asian, Black/African American, Hispanic/Latino or Native Hawaiian/Other Pacific Islander students to assist them with obtaining a graduate degree and leadership positions within the profession and our organization. The aim is to increase the number of racially and ethnically diverse professionals in the field of library and information science to best position libraries at the core of today’s culturally diverse communities.