MLIS student, Kayla Davis, recently presented her research project, 鈥淭he History of Library Services to African Americans in Florida,鈥� at the Annual Florida Library Association (FLA) conference on May 15, 2024. This was Ms. Davis鈥檚 first time attending and presenting at FLA. Ms. Davis described her experience as 鈥渨onderful,鈥� commenting, 鈥淚t was great to see so many familiar faces from other conferences and events. This year's theme, 鈥楩lorida Libraries: Fundamental to Freedom,鈥� was both relevant and encouraging. My presentation topic fit well within the theme and offered an opportunity to reflect on times when access to libraries was not a freedom enjoyed by all Floridians.鈥�
Ms. Davis shared the inspiration for her research project and presentation. 鈥淢y research project, 鈥楾he History of Library Services to African Americans in Florida,鈥� came into fruition after taking LIS 6110: History of Libraries with Dr. de la Pe帽a McCook. One of our assignments required us to research the history of a local library system, and I decided to explore the history of the Orange County Library System where I had previously worked for about four years. While looking into OCLS, I came across the story of a Black librarian named Eddie T. Jackson who worked in a library branch for Orlando's African Americans residents. This made me curious about how other libraries across Florida served their Black populations during the time racial segregation was a law of the state. I found there was very little research on this topic, and this project would be the first statewide examination of library development through an African American lens. I was able to uncover historical data about the number of libraries that served African Americans in Florida, as well as unique stories about these libraries and Florida's earliest Black librarians. I feel honored that I was able to share this history and bring recognition to the dedication of those who worked to ensure Black Floridians had access to libraries.鈥�
Ms. Davis is in her last semester at USF. While her time in the MLIS program has mostly
focused on academic librarianship, Ms. Davis stated, 鈥淭his project has really sparked
my interest in archives and special collections, especially digital archives. This
research would have been exceedingly more difficult without the digitization of items
like library board meeting minutes and newspapers from the past. I would love to do
this work in a museum or cultural heritage center. Although, I plan to stay open-minded
about the type of library or institution where I might end up after completing the
MLIS program.鈥�
Ms. Davis reflected on her experience at the FLA conference. 鈥淢y personal takeaway
from this experience is the importance of pursuing our interests as MLIS students
and being able to both recognize a need and have a willingness to initiate projects
that address it.鈥�
In addition to her research project work, Ms. Davis is the student chapter President of the American Library Association and Special Library Association at 国产短视频and has served as a graduate assistant. She is also an ALA Spectrum Scholar and received the prestigious distinction of the School of Information鈥檚 Outstanding Student Award in the Fall of 2023. Ms. Davis is a member of the ALA, SLA, BCALA, and FLA.