Greetings Colleagues, The Board of Directors met via conference call on Thursday, May 24. Highlights are listed below. Board Vacancy The Board is connecting with library directors to fill the public position, term ending June 30, 2019, vacated by Jean Greene, Hinds Community College. Membership Dues Total FY17 membership dues collected by June 30, 2017 from seventy-five members totaled $77,878.00. As of May 18, 2018, seventy-three members have remitted $76,451.24. The SunTrust bank balance as of May 18th is $95,669.94. AUC Woodruff manages HBCU Library Alliance fiscal affairs and has processed billing through December. The January-March 2018 $21,025.75 invoice has just been received. HBCU Library Alliance Summer 2018 Intern Program The University of Delaware was awarded a $24,000 grant to support the "Advancing Diversity in the Library Preservation Profession: Developing Summer Internships in Partnership with the HBCU Library Alliance" initiative. Major kudos to Board member Debbie Norris for this award! The participating student interns, conservation labs and supervisors are: Student Conservation Lab Site Supervisor 1. Alicia Bush, Florida A&M University Harry Ransom Center, University of Texas Mary Ellen Cunningham-Kruppa, Assoc. Director for Preservation 1. John Gabriel Davies, Fisk University (TN) Winterthur Museum, Garden, and Library, Wilmington, DE Melissa Tedone, Book & Library Conservator 1. Layla Huff, Morgan State University (MD) American Philosophical Society Library (PA) Anne Downey, Head of Conservation 1. Erin Matthews, Hampton University (VA) Yale University Library (CT) Christine McCarthy, Director of Preservation 1. Phoebe Pankey, Winston-Salem State University (NC) Duke University (NC) Beth Doyle, Head of Conservations Services To advance this project and broaden awareness of the HBCU community, Deanna Marcum reached out to the Library of Congress for their support. Thanks to Deanna for the connection! Jacob Nadal, Director of Preservation at Library of Congress expressed interest in supporting a student internship, and has forwarded a contract to support one student, with plans to continue this annually. Miranda Clinton, North Carolina Central University, has accepted the Library of Congress placement. Digital Library Federation Partnership The HBCU Library Alliance was well represented at the October 2017 Digital Library Federation (DLF)/HBCU Library Alliance pre-conference and the DLF forum in Pittsburgh (PA). Board colleagues Monika Rhue, Jean Greene and thirteen HBCU institutions were awarded DLF/HBCU Library Alliance fellowships. IMLS funded this pilot project. Loretta Parham delivered the keynote to one-hundred eighteen pre-conference attendees. See the HBCU Library Alliance website for more information. The final report of the project will be snail-mailed to each member institution later this month and get posted to the HBCU Library Alliance's website. New Project: "The HBCU Library Alliance + Digital Library Federation Authenticity Project: Fostering Dynamic Fellowship Cohorts, Strategic Organizational Partnerships, & Authentic Community" The Digital Library Federation and HBCU Library Alliance have submitted a second round of funding to IMLS for the "The HBCU Library Alliance + Digital Library Federation Authenticity Project: Fostering Dynamic Fellowship Cohorts, Strategic Organizational Partnerships, & Authentic Community." The proposal has been selected to advance to the second phase of the application process for the Laura Bush 21st Century Librarian Program! Project Directors: Bethany Nowviskie (Executive Director, Digital Library Federation) and Sandra Phoenix (Executive Director, HBCU Library Alliance) Goals of the grant established based on observations of participants and organizers of the 2017 Pre-Conference: 1) to continue providing travel bursaries to allow practitioners from Alliance member libraries to intersect with and enrich the broader digital library community by attending the DLF Forum and establishing reciprocal, balanced mentoring and networking relationships w/librarians and technologists in both organizations 2) to encourage DLF members to engage with Alliance activities, including by putting them in greater contact and fostering authentic personal relationships, offering opportunities to hear project reports by Fellows at the Forum, and by having DLF leadership (staff and advisory committee members) attend Alliance membership meetings in 2018 and 2020 and Alliance leadership (staff and board of directors) attend the Forum 3) to deepen and enrich inter-institutional exchange by incentivizing collaboration among DLF and Alliance member libraries, through micro-grants/seed money for joint projects of strategic importance to two or more DLF and Alliance members. Project Design: The Authenticity Project takes seriously the notion of promoting authentic engagement at multiple levels: interpersonal, institutional, & membership-organizational. Grant supports 3 cohorts of DLF+HBCU Library Alliance Authenticity Project Fellows, 15 in each program year. Fellows will come from HBCU libraries. Their awards include: 1. Mentoring (each Fellow matched to two volunteer mentors: one from the Alliance and another from the DLF community; mentors + mentees receive fun, quarterly discussion "assignments" from us to make sure they stay connected; will lean heavily on people in leadership positions in our membership institutions to participate) 2. Always-available Slack space and quarterly synchronous, online networking sessions for Fellows, mentors, and eventual project partners on the eResearch Network model. Synch sessions will use Zoom for video (to help with future in-person networking) and will offer chances to reflect on the quarterly mentorship discussion topic and/or feature guest moderators to get conversation going. 3. The ability to apply for seed money/microgrant funding for specific collaborations between an HBCU Library Alliance and DLF member institution, on projects of mutual strategic value. Fellows will apply for this funding, up to a given dollar limit (specifying ideal and minimum necessary amounts, to help us stretch if necessary) only after a couple of quarterly networking sessions, to help promote new connections and ideas. 4. Full travel/lodging/registration to DLF Forum and Preconference workshops for Fellow near the end of their fellowship year. Fellows who won additional project funds will have an opportunity to present on their work; all will be invited to special networking opportunities at the Forum. 5. Ongoing access for fellows, mentors, and project collaborators to the Slack space to promote community across cohorts and beyond the end of the grant. The 2018 Digital Library Federation forum will be held at the M Resort just outside Las Vegas, Nevada, October 15-17, 2018. Tasha Lucas-Youmans is representing the Board. I'm presenting on a panel. IMLS Proposal -The Archivist Partnership Project Johnson C. Smith University's Archivist Partnership Project has been selected to advance to the second phase of the application process. The project, in partnership with the HBCU Library Alliance, will address the goal of developing a diverse workforce of librarians and archivists and recruiting/educating the next generation of archivists. The Archivist Partnership Project focuses on curation to increase access to archival collections and pre-professional projects with the aim of attracting ethnically/culturally underrepresented students to the archival profession. NEH Proposal: Building Capacity for Humanities Special Collections at Historically Black Colleges and Universities (Building Capacity - HBCU) The HBCU Library Alliance submitted the Building Capacity - HBCU proposal to NEH on March 15th. Thanks are due to project partner, Lee Price, Director of Development, Conservation Center for Art and Historic Artifacts (CCAHA) for writing the proposal. Grant funds for "Building Capacity - HBCU" will strengthen and improve knowledge and understanding of the humanities through capacity building strategies focused on the preservation and conservation of special collections at 75 HBCU member libraries. The total $739,000 project, with both federal and 1:1 nonfederal matching funds, will assist the 75 member libraries in improving collection stewardship through a menu that will include preservation planning documents (preservation needs assessments, preservation plans, emergency response plans, and collections management development policies); item-by-item collection surveys and condition reports for paper, photographs, books, paintings, textiles, objects, or audiovisual media; conservation treatment and/or housing; and educational programs that can be delivered at the requesting library and customized to meet the library's needs. If funded, the budget includes funding for consulting services to provide fundraising expertise to raise the required match. NEH will announce decisions in late July. Northern Illinois University - DIGITAL POWRR (Preserving digital Objects With Restricted Resources) As shared previously, NIU was awarded an IMLS grant to host five Digital POWRR institutes, with one to include HBCU Library Alliance members. The Digital POWRR institute will be re-scheduled in Naperville, IL for early 2019 to allow greater participation by members. There will be an application process for the Institute with HBCU Board representation. For more details on the POWRR Institutes, please visit the following page: http://digitalpowrr.niu.edu/institutes/<http://digitalpowrr.niu.edu/institutes/> 2018 Membership Meeting The October 2018 Membership Meeting is confirmed for Sunday through Tuesday, October 7-9 at the Atlanta University Center Woodruff Library. The Transforming HBCU Library Alliance: Revisit, Refocus, Reframe is the meeting theme. Registration and hotel links are being reviewed. A $150.00 fee-based pre-conference session is scheduled on Sunday, October 7, 1:00 - 5:00, at Woodruff Library. HBCU Library Alliance Board member Debbie Norris and CCAHA Director of Development Lee Price will present "Fundraising Strategies for HBCU's." Board members are encouraged to attend and promote the session. Jacob Nadal, Director of Preservation, Library of Congress, will keynote the meeting. The following partner organizations will participate/present at the meeting. 1. Dr. Melissa Tedone, Winterthur Museum, Garden, and Library, Site Supervisor, Summer 2018 Intern Program 2. Bethany Nowviskie, Executive Director, Digital Library Federation 3. Laura Stantz Horton, Executive Director, and Lee Price, Director of Development, Conservation Center for Art and Historic Artifacts 4. Julianna Richardson, Executive Director, TheHistoryMakers 5. Marilyn Dunn, Executive Director, Schlesinger Library on the History of Women in America Harvard University A Funder's panel is being scheduled for the membership as an opportunity to learn more about agencies and programs that support HBCUs and make direct contact with agency staff. The following funding agencies have been confirmed to participate on the panel: 1. CLIR - Council for Library and Information Resources Nikki Ferraiolo, Program Officer for Scholarly Resources 2. IMLS - Institution of Museum and Library Services James Neal, Senior Program Officer, Office of Library Services 3. National Park Service Reginald Chapple, Division Chief, Office of Partnerships & Philanthropic Stewardship Joel Wurl, Senior Program Officer, National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH) has responded as a "strong possibility" for the Membership Meeting, minus any budget challenges. CLIR's Nikki Ferraiolo is assisting with identifying contacts and has made virtual introductions to: 1. The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation, Patricia Hswe, Senior Program Officer, Scholarly Communications 2. The National Historical Publications and Records Commission 3. The Knight Foundation Membership@100% The HBCU Library Alliance is strongest if it includes every White-House designated HBCU in its membership. In this way, the HBCU Library Alliance takes action on behalf of all HBCUs. There is expertise, collections and connections within the current membership. By enfranchising all members, there are greater opportunities to strengthen individual members, thus ultimately strengthening the entire membership. A dues structure using a minimalist approach will be developed to allow those institutions, primarily smaller institutions, to re-engage. A draft concept paper is near completion. Continuing Education Consuella Askew, Rutgers University (NJ) presented the March 29th webinar "Succession Planning: Let's Get Ready!" to 15 attendees. Stay tuned! Sandra SANDRA M. PHOENIX HBCU Library Alliance Executive Director Atlanta University Center Robert W. Woodruff Library 111 James P. Brawley Drive SW Atlanta, GA 30314 404-978-2118 (office) 404-702-5854 (cell) http://www.hbculibraries.org/ sphoenix@hbculibraries.org<mailto:sphoenix@hbculibraries.org<mailto:sphoenix@hbculibraries.org%3cmailto:sphoenix@hbculibraries.org>> Honor the ancestors, honor the children. Follow us on Facebook https://www.facebook.com/hbculibraryalliance1/ and Twitter https://twitter.com/HBCULibAlliance Check out "PULSE!" The HBCU Library Alliance's News Source! - https://hbculibraryalliance.wordpress.com/