By Jeff Murphy,
July 1, 2019
![Rene Burress and Matt King](/news/university-news/posts/images/burress-king.jpg)
WARRENSBURG, MO 鈥 Rene Burress, a 欧美视频 faculty member, and
Matthew (Matt) King, a graduate student at UCM, were honored by the oldest library
association in the world, the American Library Association, during the group鈥檚 2019
national conference, June 20-25 in Washington, D.C.
Burress is an assistant professor and coordinator of the Library and Information Services (LIS) program at UCM. She was honored as recipient of the ALA Jesse H. Shera Award for research
design of her doctoral dissertation, which she worked on as a Ph.D. candidate at Emporia
State University, Kansas. King, is employed at Discovery Elementary School in the
Orchard Farm School District in St. Charles, Missouri and is pursuing an Education
Specialist in Human Services/Learning Resources at UCM. He was one of 50 individuals
recognized as an 鈥淎LA Emerging Leader.鈥
According to information released by the ALA, Burress鈥 dissertation is titled 鈥淪chool
Libraries and Every Student Succeeds Act: A Qualitatitve Study.鈥 The goal of this
study is to provide an understanding of the decision-making processes related to the
ESSA and plans at both the state and local levels to provide information that will
assist school library interest groups in future lobbying and advocacy efforts.
Burress鈥 case study approach gathers data from ESSA plans, stakeholder feedback, and
interviews with school library leaders. It employs Herbert Simon鈥檚 theory of bounded
reality and Ronald Cervero and Arthur Wilson鈥檚 planning theory to examine state and
local administrators鈥 decision-making and planning processes and practices related
to their inclusion or exclusion in ESSA proposals for school library and school librarian
funding.
Burress completed much of the preliminary research needed to ensure a successful study,
according to ALA. It also notes, 鈥淭his timely research has the potential to make an
important impact on our profession.鈥
As a member of the 2019 Class of Emerging Leaders, King was the only representative
of the class from Missouri. He joined other Emerging Leaders to participate in a daylong
session that took place during the ALA 2019 Midwinter Meeting in Seattle, Washington.
This session included orientation and training, and was followed with an online learning
and networking opportunity for six months. The program culminated with a poster session
at the ALA 2019 annual conference in which Emerging Leaders showcased . Emerging Leaders commit to taking part in all aspects of the program and have an
opportunity to serve on an ALA division, chapter, roundtable, or affiliate committee
or workgroup upon completion. King expects to graduate from UCM at the end of the
fall 2019 semester.
The ALA was founded in 1876, and about 16,000 members attended the June conference.
In fulfilling its mission, ALA is committed to providing 鈥渓eadership for the development,
promotion and improvement of library and information services and the profession of
librarianship in order too enhance learning and ensure access to information for all.鈥