Advancing Librarianship: Schoen Fellows Share New Research at the NJLA/NJASL Joint Conference
Three 2025-2026 Schoen Fellows, Toni-Anne McDermott MI'27, Lauren Popp MI'26, and Kaylee Ruiz MI'26, joined Associate Teaching Professor of Library and Information Science Brenda Boyer to share their presentation, " Come & Get It! Ready-to-Use Resources for Busy School & Youth Librarians," at the 2026 NJLA/NJASL Joint Conference, held February 17–19 in Atlantic City, New Jersey.
The Schoen Fellowship is awarded annually to a select number of Master of Information students who are concentrating in School Librarianship.
The fellowship provides students who are preparing for certification as school library media specialists in K-12 schools with a tremendous opportunity to make pre-service contributions to their field.
Brenda Boyer
During the presentation, McDermott, Popp, and Ruiz discussed their research and the professional resources they are developing for their Schoen projects (Curating an Audiobook Collection, Philadelphia's School Library Crisis, and Gaming in Libraries, respectively). Each spoke about their research journey and fielded questions from the audience of over 120 people.
Boyer provided an overview of the Schoen Fellowship and described the more than 20 research projects in the SC&I collection. Projects range from the benefits of scary stories to library redesign, disabilities, diverse children’s books, digital citizenship, museum-based learning, outdoor learning, and more.
This year’s cohort of Schoen fellows also includes Sam Procida MI'26, whose research project focuses on Dungeons & Dragons and English language learners, and Emma Steere MI'27, whose project looks at the integration of civic literacy into the Social Studies curriculum.
Each project results in a deliverable that can be utilized readily by practicing librarians and relates 'to dynamic student learning in school libraries.' Products developed by past Schoen fellows include digital lessons, curated resources, and LibGuide websites, as well as action research papers.
Students selected for the fellowship choose topics of current importance to the school library field, conduct research and develop lit reviews, and ultimately design and develop their final products.
Each project results in a deliverable that can be utilized readily by practicing librarians and relates "to dynamic student learning in school libraries." Products developed by past Schoen fellows include digital lessons, curated resources, and LibGuide websites, as well as action research papers.
The Schoen Fellowship is supported by a generous donation from the Carole A. and Norman Barham Family Foundation.
Learn more about the Master of Information at the Rutgers School of Communication and Information.
Image provided by Brenda Boyer.
