EveryLibrary / Hack Library School Internship

[Cross-posted with Hack Library School - 21 Jan 2013]

Last week, [Hack Library School] announced our new collaboration with Hiring Librarians. This week, we are delighted to announce yet another collaboration, this time with EveryLibrary, a library advocacy nonprofit that we wrote about last September.

The premise of our collaboration with EveryLibrary is simple, and potentially incredibly fun for you: Together, we would like to sponsor a paid intern for summer 2013!

Without further ado, the details:

The EveryLibrary / Hack Library School internship will provide a current MLS/MLIS student with the opportunity to apply their specialized knowledge and skills to public policy and voter advocacy issues confronting independent library districts. One selected student will work over a 10 – 12 week period during summer 2013 to produce original research or a white-paper length policy brief for later publication. Work produced during this internship will be under a Creative Commons license and made available to the public via Hack Library School.

The intern will be supported with a $500.00 stipend and is encouraged to conduct self-guided, hands-on, research-oriented work at agencies, advocacy groups, corporations, and legislative and executive offices. The intern will work in close collaboration with EveryLibrary on the success of this project.  No provision is made for other support.

Topics for the internship can include:

• Original research on voting habits or voter attitudes about libraries
• Literature survey and analysis on voter attitudes about libraries
• Original research on funding and public perception of district vs. municipal libraries
• Comparative analysis concerning legislative authority for library districts
• Forward-looking theory on the future of library funding and voter behavior

Application process:

To be eligible for consideration, students should email the following information to [email protected] with the subject line “EveryLibrary/Hack Library School internship.” The intern will be selected jointly by EveryLibrary and Hack Library School. Deadline for applying is March 15, 2013. Please send:

• Your resume/CV
• A document discussing ideas for topics you’d like to research. We are not looking for anything formal, just an idea of where your interests lie. (If selected for the internship, we are happy to work with you to determine a final topic.)
• Please also share your availability to complete the internship during summer 2013

Preferred qualifications:

• Current MLS/MLIS student enrolled in a US-based, ALA-accredited program of study
• Excellent writing and communication skills
• Demonstrated interest in library advocacy
• Ability to work independently with periodic virtual meetings
• Political Science or Public Policy undergraduate degree a plus!

Any questions about the internship or application can be sent to [email protected].