Library and Information Studies master’s student Jonathan DaSo is the recipient of the 2012 ALA Spectrum Scholarship.

The Spectrum Scholarship Program is ALA’s national diversity and recruitment effort.  Established in 1997, Spectrum Scholarships have been awarded to over 700 individuals.  The awards are designed to encourage representation and recruitment from traditionally under-represented groups within the profession, while serving as a model for ways to bring attention to larger diversity issues in the future.

Dr. Christie Koontz praised Jonathan’s selection for the award: “I was so pleased to see Jonathan was awarded the ALA Spectrum Scholarship for 2012.  His Chicano background and work with Oxford Library at Emory—and his passion for librarianship–made him an optimal candidate and winner.”

Jonathan grew up in Atlanta, where he currently lives.  He did his undergraduate work at Emory University in Spanish and Chinese language and literature, and is starting work on his Master’s in Library and Information Science at FSU this fall.  He returned to his alma mater to begin working at the Oxford College Library in 2011. It was here that he was exposed to the various aspects of librarianship and decided to pursue it as a career. His ultimate goal is to be a reference and instruction librarian for an academic or research library.  To be a subject librarian for a department of East Asian studies would probably be his dream job.

Growing up with a Mexican mother and an American father, Jonathan has learned to see the world through different lenses.  He’s fascinated by other people’s cultures and experiences, and strives not only to learn more about the various cultures of the world, but to encourage others to do the same. He hopes that by pursuing a career in librarianship he will be able to foster a safe environment for people to learn about any aspect of the world around them.