Grants and Acquisitions

David Free

The Institute of Museum and Library Services (IMLS) has granted awards totaling $6,000,000 in Museum Grants for African American History and Culture. The 34 grantees will match these awards with an additional $8,002,981 in non-federal funds. Museum Grants for African American History and Culture support activities that build the capacity of African American museums and support the growth and development of museum professionals at African American museums. Details in the grant, including recipients, are available at https://www.imls.gov/news/imls-funding-6-million-museum-grants-support-african-american-history-and-culture.

IMLS has also awarded grants totaling $5,763,000 through three programs designed to support and improve library services of Native American, Native Alaskan, and Native Hawaiian organizations. Native American Library Services Basic Grants support existing library operations and maintain core library services. Native American Library Services Enhancement Grants assist Native American Tribes in improving core library services for their communities. Enhancement Native Hawaiian Library Services Grants are available to nonprofit organizations that primarily serve and represent Native Hawaiians so they can enhance existing or implement new library services. Learn more at https://www.imls.gov/news/imls-awards-57-million-strengthen-library-services-tribal-communities-native-hawaiians.

As the administrative sponsor of the Conference on Academic Library Management (CALM), the University of California-San Diego Library has been awarded a grant in the amount of $104,818 from IMLS Laura Bush 21st Century Librarian Program. The award will support an in-depth examination of the state of management training and professional support in the field of academic libraries. This work will be completed as a collaboration between librarians from a range of institutions, including New York University Libraries, George Mason University Libraries, Gonzaga University, University of Houston, and Winthrop University Dacus Library. The grant is one of 31 projects to receive this year’s LB21 Award, which promotes the development of a diverse workforce of librarians to better meet the changing learning and information needs of the American public.

The Private Academic Library Network of Indiana (PALNI) has awarded PALSave Textbook Creation Grants to fund eight open textbooks from faculty authors at its supported institutions. The grants will allow these educators to develop open textbooks that are freely available online, making them part of a statewide effort to reduce the cost of course materials for college students. The grants—awarded as part of the PALSave: PALNI Affordable Learning program—are given in overlapping two-year cohorts. Financed with support from Lilly Endowment Inc., authors will receive up to $6,500 per project. More information is available at https://palni.org/palsave/textbook-creation-grant.

Acquisitions

A major portion of the papers of Supreme Court Associate Justice John Paul Stevens has opened for research in the Manuscript Division of the Library of Congress. The collection documents the evolving position of one of the longest-serving justices on the Supreme Court and the transformation of the court itself. Stevens first began depositing his papers at the Library of Congress in 2005, and he converted the collection to a gift in 2010 upon his retirement from the court. An early installment of Stevens’ papers spanning largely from 1975 to 1984 opened for research in October 2020, though access was initially limited during the COVID-19 pandemic. A larger second portion of the collection spanning primarily from 1984 to 2010 was transferred from the Supreme Court in June 2022, has been processed and organized by archivists, and is now open for research. The newly opened portion amounts to about 741 manuscript containers. Stevens’ most recent files from 2005 to 2010 will remain closed until October 2030, according to Stevens’ gift agreement with the library.

The Hoover Institution Library & Archives has acquired the papers of Aleksandr Soldatov, a prominent researcher in the field of church-state relations in the Russian Federation and the post-Soviet religious scene. They show the extent of political and religious persecution in the Russian Federation and its predecessor, the USSR, as well as the religious landscape of Ukraine from the 1980s to 2020. Learn more at https://www.hoover.org/news/hoover-institution-acquires-aleksandr-soldatov-papers.