Greetings Colleagues, I trust you’re well and in good spirits. The Board of Directors met on Tuesday, March 26th via Zoom. See highlights below. Contact me directly if you have questions or need additional information. Forbes Article The HBCU Library Alliance is featured in a March 15, 2024 post on Forbes.com. Thanks to MaryBeth Gasman, Rutgers University (NJ), for the article on the work of the HBCU Library Alliance. Follow this link: https://www.forbes.com/sites/marybethgasman/2024/03/15/why-supporting-hbcu-libraries-is-essential/?sh=6f22ac241c19 to access the article. Share broadly with your network. Sara Bathum, Board Advisor Sarah Bathum was welcomed to the Board as an advisor. In her role as a Senior Strategy Manager at Pivotal Ventures, Sara manages a portfolio of grants supporting the mental health and well-being of youth of color and LGBTQ+ youth. New Logo, Branding, Website Makeover Mindy Johnston Designs was hired as the contract web designer in January. A new logo, branding and a new website are under development. The membership voted on a new logo and selected the tree of knowledge<https://hbculibraries-my.sharepoint.com/:i:/g/personal/ldenard_hbculibraries_org/Ef_Re51TE-VCuzaRFHvRjCkB9019iGU9FjR3Oht35kIw6g?e=d9lk4a>. The website will feature functionality to include a private members-only page, an e-commerce platform and a section for online classes. There is a "We're getting a new look" placeholder on the current site with the option to access the old site. The new site will launch this spring. Marketing Consultant Maya Brown was welcomed to the HBCU Library Alliance team as a contract Marketing Consultant. Maya’s role includes developing a marketing plan to promote increased engagement with corporations, non-profit organizations, and non-HBCU academic institutions, as well as to develop new partnership opportunities from these categories. 1 Alliance Annual Appeal/Fundraising Strategies The 1 Alliance annual appeal campaign launched in November 2023 attracting forty-seven new donors, with an average gift of $100.00. Prospecting and outreach continue to support operations and the NEH Building Capacity project. Follow this link to contribute to the HBCU Library Alliance: HBCU Library Alliance Donate page<https://www.paypal.com/donate?hosted_button_id=LMWTSE3HTUADC> Prospecting Notables: Alliance Bernstein Amtrak American Airlines JP Morgan Chase Microsoft Visa Disney-on-the-Yard Coca-Cola Capital One McDonald’s Building Capacity Prospects: CLIR HBCU Radio Preservation Propel        AM Digital Michael Fayoyin NEH Building Capacity The NEH Building Capacity for Humanities Special Collections at HBCUs project ends in September 2025. The $365,000.00 one-to-one matching challenge grant provides preservation and education services to participating institutions. Of the $365,000.00 award, $127,500.00 must be raised to meet the financial obligation of the grant. Recent LOIs and grant requests have been denied. The team is aggressively seeking funding to support the last round of the project. CLIR Partnership The second season of the CLIR Material Memory Podcast has been confirmed. Eight interviews will take place this season. This follow-up season is back by popular demand and will focus on the significant collections at participating institutions. Selected institutions are Atlanta University Center Robert W. Woodruff Library (GA), American Baptist College (TN), Bowie State University (MD), Prairie View A&M University (TX), West Virginia State University, and Southern University and A&M College (LA). The episodes will be released in Fall 2024. The Hidden Collections Africa project activities continue. The HBCU Library Alliance proposal has been forwarded to CLIR that includes an exchange and education program, meetings of participating African institutions at HBCUs, meetings of participating HBCUs at African institutions, collaborative teaching by faculty, sharing experiences and creating toolkits and an African institution hosting one edition of the summer conservation/ preservation program. A $42,000 donation was received from CLIR to support sub-grant awards for HBCU Library Alliance members. Eleven applications were received, totaling $111,000.00. The focus was on smaller, less-resourced institutions to support a project developed by their library. The following five institutions were selected for funding: Cheyney University ($5,000), Lane College ($6,600), Lincoln University, PA ($10,000), Oakwood University ($9,839.58), and Texas College ($10,000). HBCU Library Alliance Conservation/Preservation Internship 2025-2029 The final round of the conservation/preservation internship project was hosted in summer 2023. Board member Melissa Tedone and the HBCU Library Alliance team developed a draft program description for a 2025-2029 internship. Three HBCUs will be invited to serve as host sites. A proposal will be submitted to NEH to fund an HBCU Library Alliance internship program to include the following goals: 1. Introduce undergraduate HBCU student interns to careers in librarianship with a focus on preservation, encompassing both archives and conservation work within this sphere, 2. Educate interns about the significance of material culture and facilitate their appreciation for the invaluable humanities collections held by HBCU libraries and BIPOC collections within PWIs, 3. Build a mutually supportive community among program participants, site supervisors, and instructors that provides ongoing mentorship for program alums who pursue a career in some aspect of cultural heritage work, and 4. Document intern projects via an open-access repository so their contributions can be shared broadly. 2024 Spring Professional Development Workshop Series The Spring 2024 Empower and Equip: HBCU Librarians' Professional Growth Series launched on March 27. Session information is listed below. The session recordings will be shared with the membership. Fostering Effective Leadership and Resource Allocation in HBCU Libraries Date: March 27, 2024, 10:00 AM Eastern Time Presenters: David McMillan, Director of Library Services at Bluefield State University (WV), and Laura Johnson, Director of Library Services at Livingstone College (NC). Cultivating New Leaders, Digital Tools & Emerging Technologies for HBCU Libraries Date: April 3, 2024, 10:00 AM Eastern Time Presenters: DeLisa M. Harris, Director of Library Services at Fisk University (TN), and Brandon Lunsford, Director of Library Services at Johnson C. Smith University (NC). Strategic Initiatives: Navigating Fundraising and Accreditation for Institutional Success Date: April 10, 2024, 10:00 AM Eastern Time Presenters: Dawn Kight, Ph.D., Dean of Libraries at Southern University and A&M College (LA), and Tanya Williams, Interim Director of Library Services, Head Reference & Instruction Librarian at Saint Augustine's University (NC). 10th Historic Membership Meeting/Pre-Conference/NEH Chair’s Grant The 10th Membership Meeting is scheduled on Sunday through Tuesday, October 27-29 in Baton Rouge, LA. Registration will remain at the $350.00 rate of the 2018 meeting. Dr. Marybeth Gasman, Rutgers University (NJ) will keynote the meeting. “The HBCU Library Alliance: Empowering our Members to Face the Future of Democracy and Education” is the theme. October 27th Pre-Conference Planning is underway for a Sunday, October 27th pre-conference. Sessions will be presented on topics including Leadership and Change Management, Financial Advocacy and Fundraising, The Journey of an HBCU Archivist, Collection Stewardship and Mental Health and Wellness. HBCU students interested in librarianship and non-director library staff will be prioritized for attendance. NEH Deputy Director Meeting Board advisor John Parrish-Peede facilitated a meeting with NEH Deputy Director Anthony Mitchell. As a Hampton University (VA) graduate, Anthony was pleased with the activities of the HBCU Library Alliance. An invitation was extended to submit an NEH Chair’s grant to support professional development for students interested in librarianship and non-library director staff. Anthony was invited to participate on the 10th Membership Meeting Funder’s Panel. The HBCU Digital Library Trust Andrea Jackson Gavin presented an update on the work of the HBCU Digital Library Trust. The HBCU Digital Library Trust Advisory Committee met on March 11 and 12 to discuss the development of services and business models to accelerate and build capacity for the digitization, discovery, and preservation of collections at HBCU libraries. The Digital Trust’s professional development opportunity, the Copyright First Responders program, will conclude at the end of March 2024. Andrea requested support from the Board to help the HBCU Digital Library Trust connect with other libraries, to share the Digital Trust’s goals, and to clear up any misconceptions about the partnership with Harvard Library. The HBCU Digital Library Trust was asked to present at the October 2024 Membership Meeting. Respectfully, Sandra Sandra Phoenix Executive Director at HBCU Library Alliance<http://hbculibraries.org/> Office: (678) 210-5801 ext. 101 Mobile: (404) 702-5854 600 Westridge Parkway, Suite 714, PMB 1100 McDonough, GA 30253 Web: hbculibraries.org<http://hbculibraries.org/> Email: sphoenix@hbculibraries.org Seek justice, honor the ancestors, honor the children and those yet to come. [cid:image001.gif@01DA90AC.9B65B6C0]<https://www.facebook.com/hbculibraryalliance1/> [cid:image002.gif@01DA90AC.9B65B6C0] <https://twitter.com/HBCULibAlliance> [cid:image003.png@01DA90AC.9B65B6C0] <https://www.instagram.com/hbcu_library_alliance/> [cid:image004.gif@01DA90AC.9B65B6C0] <https://hbculibraryalliance.wordpress.com/> Follow this link HBCU Library Alliance 10th Membership Meeting<https://www.hbculibraries.org/meeting-2024.html> for updates on the Membership Meeting!