Congratulations to Rasheed Adigun, winner of the 2026 Helen Jira Scholarship! Rasheed is currently a student at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, where he works as a graduate assistant at the Grainger Engineering Library and Information Center. His librarianship is shaped by “the genuine belief that access to the right information at the right time can change lives.” In addition to his work at UIUC, Rasheed also worked at the Tai Solarin University of Education Library, where he saw the struggles of students and faculty when access to resources was limited: “It showed me that access to information is not equal everywhere, and that gap can have real consequences, especially in fields like healthcare where accurate and current information is essential.”
Rasheed fulfilled his scholarship requirements by presenting a lightning talk at the 2026 HSLI annual conference titled “From Impact to Access,” which was well received by the conference attendees. You can view his slides on the conference repository website under Lightning Talks – Session 3. He discussed how he got into librarianship, what he is learning now, and some of his intentions for the future.
Congratulations again, Rasheed! We at HSLI are excited to see your continued career growth!