Florida: Jacksonville Public Library Library Lands $1 Million Grant For Black History Collection

From Jacksonville Today/WJCT:

A $1 million grant will enable the Jacksonville Public Library to digitize more of the history of Jacksonville’s Black community and share it and other documents with other libraries and researchers.

The grant from the Andrew Mellon Foundation, announced Wednesday, is the largest private donation in the library’s history. It will be used to expand the library’s Memory Lab and African American History Collection, officials said.

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Along with adding more memory stations, two staffers will be hired for the library’s Special Collections team. The African American History Collection, which contains more than 1,000 documents and artifacts, will be expanded with more recordings of oral histories and the digitizing of more Black newspapers, church directories and other community materials.

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See Also: Another Recent Mellon Grant to a Public Library (12/28): Virginia: Richmond Public Library to Expand, Modernize Memory Lab With New Grant (via WRIC)

Filed under: Archives and Special Collections, Funding, Libraries, News, Public Libraries