XULA librarian Mary A. Guillory has been accepted into the the Amazon Web Services (AWS) Machine Learning University (MLU) Educator Enablement Program. The program was announced by Amazon at the end of 2022 with a focus on prioritizing faculty at community colleges in the United States, minority serving institutions, and HBCUs. The program is designed to equip educators with the knowledge and curriculum to teach data management, artificial intelligence, and machine learning topics.

As the library prepares to convert its liaison librarian model to one with a group of librarians for the sciences and one for the arts, participation in this program will provide the library with an opportunity to better support increasingly popular cutting edge technology instruction and technical competition entry consultations. Guillory will be awarded a stipend, continuing education units from Stanford University, and a certificate of completion from The Coding School. Professional development for librarians is one of the library's many efforts to expand the information and digital literacy services offered to Xavier University of Louisiana's students as well as increase collaboration with faculty to further establishment of career pathways for advanced, yet practical, technology.

Educators interested in the program may sign up to receive updates directly from the AWS MLU on their website. In addition to the national boot camps, which only allow for 50 participants per cohort and requires knowledge of the Python programming language, a monthly webinar series and community forum is being offered by AWS in an effort to build an open community of practice.