Funding: CLIR Receives $4.4 Million Mellon Foundation Award For “Digitizing Hidden Collections and Archives: Amplifying Unheard Voices” Regranting Program

From the Council on Library and Information Resources:

The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation has awarded the Council on Library and Information Resources (CLIR) $4,415,000 to support the Digitizing Hidden Special Collections and Archives regranting program. This renewal continues the program’s work with a new thematic focus and includes support for an external assessment. Since its establishment in 2015, the program has distributed over $24 million to digitize collections of rare and unique content in cultural memory institutions.

The forthcoming call, Digitizing Hidden Special Collections and Archives: Amplifying Unheard Voices, will invite proposals to digitize materials that deepen public understanding of the histories of people of color and other communities and populations whose work, experiences, and perspectives have been insufficiently recognized or unattended. By funding a cohort of academic, independent, and community-based organizations to digitize now-unavailable or underutilized collections, CLIR will cultivate broad recognition of the value of creating access to resources that document historically marginalized people to the advancement of social justice.

With its shift in scope, CLIR anticipates some adjustments to the program’s guidelines and operations. The details of these changes are still in development and will be finalized and posted to the program website on March 1, 2021, in coordination with the open call for initial applications; initial applications will be due April 30.

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Changes of note include:

•   a thematic focus on collections documenting the hidden histories of people who have previously been under-examined or unknown to broader audiences;
•   the expansion of the program’s eligibility to include Canadian nonprofit institutions, which were previously allowed to participate only as supporting partners to U.S.-based institutions; and
•   a shortened initial application to be reviewed prior to soliciting invitations for full proposals to inform decisions for a final proposal phase.

Learn More, Read the Complete Announcement

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