Greetings Colleagues, I trust you're well. Today I'm celebrating the HBCU Library Alliance's $421,238 online proposal submission to the Council for Library and Information Resources (CLIR) for our Un-Boxing Hidden HBCU Collections: Revealing the Historical Legacies of HBCUs project. The proposal was submitted yesterday; CLIR has acknowledged receipt and will provide our application status by July 27, 2015. Un-Boxing Hidden HBCU Collections: Revealing the Historical Legacies of HBCUs Project Summary The Un-Boxing Hidden HBCU Collections twenty-four month project seeks to digitize and improve discoverability and access to the cultural heritage of HBCUs, providing insight into their impacts on local communities, African-American communities and national higher education community. The HBCU collections proposed for digitization span from 1724 to 2014, document leadership, scholarship, community service and history through photos, slave ship manifests, presidential letters, speeches and papers (especially of the Civil Rights Movement and World War II era), audiovisual recordings, and research documentation regarding African-American life. The Atlanta University Center Woodruff Library, Bethune-Cookman University, Johnson C. Smith University, Lincoln University Missouri, Mississippi Valley State University, Morehouse School of Medicine, Savannah State University and Xavier University will contribute materials to this collaborative project through the HBCU Library Alliance, creating standard processes that integrate best practices among participants and using a collaborative portal for public access within the context of existing HBCU digital collections. Amount of Materials 734,480 pages of mixed archival collections 1,155 photographs 28 audiovisual records Funding Justification The collections of participating HBCUs represent both the experience of African-Americans in higher education and the important role that higher education has played within African-American communities and daily lives. These materials represent the diversity of America, and increasing access to them is important to both public and scholarly understanding of our past and present. The eight libraries and archives participating in this project represent a cross section of HBCUs and a unique segment of the higher education community. Digitization of proposed collections will provide the scholar, researcher, teacher, student and public library patron full access to the cultural, community and academic experiences of African-Americans. It also will expose these materials to new audiences and assist individual HBCUs and the HBCU Library Alliance in raising awareness of these collections and building support and funding for future digitization of more collections. A select few HBCU Library Alliance members have been able to raise funds for improved access to special collections with modest success. However, many members do not have the ability or infrastructure to do so. If awarded, the Un-Boxing Hidden HBCU Collections grant will expand exposure to these resources and create new scholarship, thus strengthening HBCU and other academic and learning communities. Thanks to Board members who participated in gathering materials and writing sections of the proposal. Special thanks to AUC Woodruff Library Records Manager Karen Jefferson and to LYRASIS Grants Officer Sandy Nyberg for sharing their expertise to develop this proposal. I'll post CLIR's application status once it becomes available. Contact me directly if you have questions. Respectfully, Sandra SANDRA M. PHOENIX Executive Director HBCU Library Alliance sphoenix@hbculibraries.org<mailto:sphoenix@hbculibraries.org> www.hbculibraries.org<http://www.hbculibraries.org/> 800-999-8558, ext. 4820 404-702-5854 Skype: sandra.phoenix1 1438 West Peachtree NW Suite 200 Atlanta,GA 30309 Toll Free: 1.800.999.8558 (LYRASIS) Fax: 404.892.7879 www.lyrasis.org<http://www.lyrasis.org/> Honor the ancestors, honor the children.