Contact: David Hiscoe, NCSU Libraries, (919) 513-3425(Raleigh, NC, 2009)—One of the most disturbing aspects of today’s economic turmoil is the growing challenge the United States faces to its traditional competitive advantage in information technology and services. Traffic to the nation’s research and community libraries is significantly up as the work force digs in to sharpen these skills. Are today’s librarians up for the challenge of promoting and teaching information literacy to the new wave of information workers? Kevin Cherry, Senior Program Officer at the Institute of Museum and Library Services (IMLS), will address the librarian’s pivotal role in today’s economy as featured speaker at the NCSU Libraries’ I. T. Littleton Seminar. Cherry coordinates the IMLS’s largest discretionary initiative, the 21st Century Librarian Program, which seeks to support the development of the nation’s information workforce. The Seminar will be held at 2:00 p.m. on Wednesday, April 15, 2009, in the Auditorium in the West Wing of D. H. Hill Library on the North Carolina State University campus in Raleigh.Cherry will deliver a talk entitled “Who’s on the Desk? Staffing the Library of the Future Today.” The past decade has seen major changes in librarianship, and all indications seem to suggest that this professional shift will not stop any time soon. Cherry is in a unique position to observe national trends in the education and professional development of librarians and other information professionals. …

More: continued here