Langston Bates Passion for Research and Education Inspires the Youth in His Community

ATLANTA, October 13, 2017 (Newswire.com) - ​Coming from a disadvantaged community, Langston Bates is now giving back to the people who helped him throughout his career as well as the community that motivated him to continue his studies. Langston Bates has been fascinated by African American music since he was just a student. Now, his passion is his career.

Bates studied folk music and American literacy. But he also did everything in his power to help the young and talented members of his community rise. He is now working with local hip-hop producers, choirs, and local university studies. On top of all this, he has worked as a secretary assistant and teaching assistant for Dr. Yvonne Chandler, one of the librarians awarded the prize for excellence in librarianship.

Langston Bates developed an interest in music production and diversity in college when he received a $10,000 grant along with another student. He was selected in 2019 by the ARL (Association of Research Libraries) to receive the grant as part of an initiative aimed to help students from underrepresented groups entering the workforce.

The initiative was meant to help students like Langston Bates graduate and participate in the workforce and represent their communities. However, the ARL wasn’t the only group involved with this initiative. Over 52 libraries donated voluntarily to the cause, which reflects the desire of librarians all over the country to increase the number of people from underrepresented communities getting hired in research positions after they graduate.

On top of being awarded the $10,000 grant, Langston Bates had the opportunity to learn more about leadership via free training while he was invited to the annual Leadership Institute held by the ARL.

During the event, Langston Bates had the opportunity to visit other libraries and learn more about the way research is conducted. This is an experience that proves worthwhile for any student who prioritizes research and a career. Langston Bates used what he learned from the training to help him become a leader in his own community, especially while he was working with younger community members. But the series of grants and achievements did not end here. He also worked at many local universities and started attracting attention to his work in his own community.

Bates was hired as a librarian for the Purdue University Black Cultural Center in 2011, where he was recognized for his efforts in the African American community, as well as his leadership and research skills. The Black Cultural Center is part of the University of North Texas. Langston Bates is also an active member of the Black Caucus ALA, a society that helps African American students increase their chances of building their careers in academia and research.

The Black Caucus ALA helped many students over the years with grants, scholarships, and free training in areas such as leadership, development, communication and anything related to research in libraries. The next year in 2012, Bates was picked as a conference leader through the Black Caucus of the ALA. During this time, he was also interviewed by Exponent, a newsletter from Purdue University.

Soon after the interview, he began working at Purdue University’s newsletter.

Bate’s career and education continued to grow. His background in arts, technology, media writing, production degree, and information science helped him succeed in his community.

Now, he hopes he will inspire others to invest in a rich education and aspire to work in research, especially when members of underrepresented communities are helped by organizations to move forward with their careers and live the lives they always worked towards.

Source: Web Presence, LLC

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