School of Information Sciences student Kendra Moyer received a 2020 Spectrum Scholarship, awarded by the American Library Association's (ALA) Office for Diversity, Literacy and Outreach Services.

In the 2020 application cycle, the Spectrum Scholarship Program received four times as many applications as there were available scholarships and Moyer was among 61 students pursuing graduate degrees in library and information studies to receive the award. A prestigious committee of 22 jurors selected this year’s Spectrum Scholars based on their commitment to community building, leadership potential and planned contributions to making social justice ingrained in everyday LIS work. 

Moyer is working toward her Master of Library and Information Science degree and expects to graduate in 2021. She recently completed her practicum in digital publishing with the Wayne State University Libraries’ Digital Publishing Collaborative.  

“Kendra has a remarkable set of skills that she brings to library and information sciences and a keen sense of what projects need and what’s missing,” said Cheryl Ball, director of the Digital Publishing Collaborative at the Wayne State University Libraries. “During her summer practicum, her experience with coding languages, licensing issues, arts management, and social justice outreach aligned well with the library system’s publishing unit values and gave her a flexibility to contribute to several projects. I am so excited for her to have received this ALA Spectrum Scholarship!” 

In addition to learning the ins and outs of digital publishing, Moyer says that her practicum experience opened her eyes to the variety of career paths within the field. “It’s encouraging to know that there are so many opportunities beyond just working in a library or at a reference desk,” she said.

Moyer is currently working as a research assistant in metadata with the Voices from the Grassroots project at WSU Law School’s Damon J. Keith Center for Civil Rights. She is helping to create a metadata library of terms that includes specific topics pertaining to Civil Rights activism in Detroit. She hopes to create a publication related to the project.

Receiving the Spectrum Scholarship has allowed Moyer to continue her education. She will be pursuing the archival administration certification at SIS in addition to completing her MLIS degree.

With a background and interest in film and performing arts, Moyer says she would love to digitize set and costume archives for a theater, ballet or motion picture archive upon graduation.