George M. Farris Selected as the 2024 Tom and Roberta Drewes Scholarship Recipient

The American Library Association (ALA) is pleased to announce the selection of George M. Farris of Nettleton, Mississippi as the 2024 Tom and Roberta Drewes Scholarship recipient.

The $3,000 scholarship is awarded to a library support staff worker who is pursuing a master’s degree in library and information science.

Currently, Farris works as a library technical assistant at the Itawamba Community College in Fulton, Mississippi. Farris says he “gets great satisfaction from helping community college students. Connecting them with the information and resources they require can be a challenge. But with challenge comes great rewards. Helping these students ─whom others might give up on─ is immensely gratifying. It’s the type of work I want to continue.”

Farris believes that “digital literacy instruction is critical to success for community college students.” He has a strong interest in continuing his work with career and technical education students. Farris says that his “mission is to support students in need of additional resources, as they are the very ones who will go on to be the blue-collar workforce supporting our nation.”

Farris’ enthusiasm for providing library services to community college students is evident to many of his colleagues. One reference commented that, “Farris has helped improve the library by implementing programs that encourage student engagement and active learning. He is an advocate who genuinely cares about the students and their well-being.”

Farris attends the University of Alabama. Upon graduation, Farris hopes to remain working at the community college level as an instruction librarian.

For information on the ALA Scholarship program, visit our scholarship page.

The ALA Office for Human Resource Development and Recruitment (HRDR) manages the ALA Scholarship Clearinghouse.