St. John’s MLS Student Is Named George N. Atiyeh Award Winner

Katherine Sydenham, a graduate student pursuing her Master’s in Library Science at St. John’s University, was recently surprised and pleased to learn that she has been named The George N. Atiyeh Award Winner for 2009. The award will facilitate her attendance at the 2009 annual meetings of the Middle East Librarians Association  (MELA) and the Middle East Studies Association of North America (MESA) in Boston this month.
 
Katherine, who majored in Religion and Women’s Studies at Swarthmore College, developed a keen interest in the Middle East and the Arabic language during her undergraduate years.  As a student worker in Swarthmore’s Humanities library, she also gained practical experience as a page and reserves desk employee.

A semester abroad in Damascus, Syria, cemented her interest in the Middle East and impelled her after graduation to take a position as a program officer at the Yemen Language Center in Sana’a, where she assisted international students with their travel, housing and other accommodations needs.

Eventually, Katherine discovered the possibility of combining both her love of the Middle East and her affinity for library work in the form of area librarianship, which brought her to St. John’s lauded MLS program. Her hope is to use her newly combined interests in Yemen, developing library systems and increasing literacy among the homeless.

Should she work in the U.S., she would like to work in a public library serving Middle Eastern minorities or in a university library where she could collaborate on joint projects with Middle Eastern, especially Yemeni, librarians that would enhance and expand the use of libraries in the Middle East and cooperation with U.S. libraries.

Jeffery Olson, Ph.D., J.D., Associate Provost and Director of Library and Information Science at St. John’s, points out that Katherine’s vocational interests are very much in line with St. John’s strategic goals. Her desire to assist the homeless models St. Vincent de Paul’s service to the poor; her passion for libraries and literacy mirrors the University’s Vincentian mission to provide excellent education for all people. Earning her graduate degree at St. John’s will surely enhance her ability to pursue those goals and prepares her for successful leadership in the global society she intends to enter.

For now, she is excited about attending the two conferences. “I am very happy that I got this award, especially because in the announcement they mention my interest in Yemen, serving youth, developing literacy, and my interest in jobs in the US that could help me achieve these goals.”