Orange county public schools (ocps) will address the shortage of qualified media specialists by recruiting candidates from within the district's instructional workforce and providing comprehensive…

The School Board of Orange County Florida received a $100,000 Project Grant from the Institute of Museum and Library Services (IMLS) under the Laura Bush 21st Century Librarian Program (CFDA 45.313), awarded October 1, 2025, with completion targeted for September 30, 2027. The project addresses the critical shortage of qualified media specialists within Orange County Public Schools by recruiting candidates from the district's existing instructional workforce and providing comprehensive professional development through a cohort-based model with mentorship support.

The primary deliverables include an Aspiring Media Specialist Preparedness Program featuring coursework, shadowing opportunities, and cohort activities, along with a replicable shadowing program. OCPS will disseminate project outcomes through a course made available on the LMS Commons platform for adoption by other institutions and a comprehensive toolkit containing recruitment strategies, communication materials, cohort activities, and implementation resources. These products are designed to support both internal replication within OCPS and adoption by other school districts, with intended outcomes focused on improving media specialist recruitment and retention while building institutional capacity in library and information science workforce development.

Orange county public schools (ocps) will address the shortage of qualified media specialists by recruiting candidates from within the district's instructional workforce and providing comprehensive professional learning through a cohort model and mentorship. Intended project results are to 1) improve ocps media specialist recruitment and retention, 2) develop and implement a replicable aspiring media specialist preparedness program with coursework, shadowing, and cohort activities, and 3) create a replicable shadowing program. Key deliverables include a course shared on the LMS commons accessible to other institutions and a toolkit featuring recruitment strategies, communication materials, cohort activities, and other resources to support replication of the project both within ocps and by other school districts.