Why now?

I've been waiting for the opportunity AND courage to leave full-time employment to become a full-time doctoral student in a LIS program.  The opportunity has presented itself.

Why the PhD

Pursuing a PhD has been a dream since being a MLS student and feeling a sense of isolation due to the lack of presence of any professors of color.

My career goal is to become a professor in a library and information science program, specializing in youth services.  I am interested in teaching classes such as multicultural youth literature, children's services and materials, and and early literacy in the library.  My research interests are the role of the public library in early literacy services to traditionally marginalized groups and the representation of African American families in children's literature during the era of President Obama.

Whence it began

The birth of my daughter, 20 years ago, prompted an interest in a career in education.  My initial interest was in teaching at the elementary school level.  However, as I completed the student teaching portion for the BS in Elementary Education, I had the pleasure of meeting Ms. Dorothy Vickers-Shelley.  She was the librarian in the elementary school at which I was assigned.  This encounter had a significant effect on me, placing me on the road to a career that was meant for me, although this was my first introduction to librarianship as a career.  In addition to the introduction to librarianship, this was also my first encounter with an African American librarian.  Libraries have always been a part of my life so it was astonishing to me that I was well into my young adult years before meeting a librarian who was of African descent.  Upon completing my BS I immediately enrolled in a MLS program, with the intent of becoming a school librarian.  The thinking was, as a school librarian, I could combine the best of both worlds, a career in education and librarianship.