The University Libraries of UNC Greensboro have been chosen to serve as hosting partner for the Coalition to Advance Learning in Libraries, Archives and Museums (CALLAM), a group of more than twenty premier U.S.-based organizations that have come together in support of learning and leadership efforts by cultural memory institutions nationally. In alignment with Coalition aims, UNC Greensboro has just been awarded a $211,000 Institute of Museum and Library Services (IMLS) grant to establish a national cohort program for diversity residents and will continue to pursue multi-institutional grants to advance Coalition purposes.
“The UNC Greensboro Libraries are delighted to have been chosen as the host for the Coalition by the national selection committee,” said Martin Halbert, Dean of University Libraries at UNC Greensboro. “By leading large-scale alliances such as the Carolina Consortium, the UNCG Libraries have long supported mutually beneficial collaborative programs among cultural memory organizations. CALLAM represents a wholly new kind of cooperative effort among the foremost associations of libraries, archives and museums in the United States. We will build upon the strong network of relationships established during the first five years of Coalition activities to better coordinate and continue to advance the professional development activities of our partner organizations in the extended cultural memory field.”
The Coalition formed in 2013 as part of an OCLC-led grant project to convene library, archive and museum associations and support organizations, and foster collaboration that expands and improves professional development and continuing education for the archives, library and museum professions. During the three-year span of the project, the Coalition produced a joint strategy and national agenda and completed several demonstration projects that model successful cross-sector partnerships.
“The participants in the Coalition invested valuable time and energy to build trust and connections across organizational and sector boundaries. OCLC is thrilled that these relationships will continue to foster as the Coalition moves ahead with renewed purpose and the fresh perspectives of Dr. Halbert’s team at UNC Greensboro,” said OCLC Project Director, Sharon Streams.
“The Coalition will provide a needed platform for collaboration, at scale, for libraries, archives and museums (LAM) to face some of the most vexing problems common to all three sectors,” said Mark Puente, Director of Diversity and Leadership Programs at the Association of Research Libraries (ARL). “Halbert and UNC Greensboro are the perfect hosts for this effort that will, no doubt, lead to meaningful progress for LAM communities.”
After the grant project was completed in December 2016, Coalition participants drafted a proposal to continue its work as a self-sustaining organization and issued a call for a hosting partner to serve as the backbone organization during this transition. The response by UNC Greensboro’s University Libraries, under the leadership of Dr. Martin Halbert, was warmly received by the Coalition participants.
“Upon review of the proposal from UNC Greensboro’s University Libraries, it was obvious that the project would be in excellent hands under Dr. Halbert’s thoughtful leadership,” said Bob Beatty, President of the Lyndhurst Group, LLC.
The Coalition will also be joined by organizations that participated in the Educopia-led NEXUS grant project, which organized more than 30 organizations from across the collective archives, library and museum profession to produce a suite of resources for leadership training that can be applied across all three sectors of the knowledge profession.
“We are delighted to see this dynamic and highly successful cross-sector project mature into an ongoing program under the stewardship of UNC Greensboro,” said Dr. Katherine Skinner, Executive Director of Educopia Institute. “We look forward to doing all we can to help this program thrive!”
The OCLC-led project was supported by funding from the IMLS and the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation. More information about the Coalition can be found at www.coalitiontoadvancelearning.org and more information about NEXUS can be found at https://educopia.org/research/nexus.
Aligned with the work of the Coalition, the UNC Greensboro Libraries have just been awarded a $211,783 grant to pilot a national Library Diversity Institute program that will address the needs of professionally underrepresented racial and ethnic groups and broadly advance diversity in U.S. academic libraries. In collaboration with the Association of College and Research Libraries (ACRL) Diversity Alliance, UNC Greensboro will develop and deliver two institutes for incoming ACRL diversity residents to improve their chances of successfully finding and keeping a job and encourage professional networking. An ongoing open access publication entitled Journal of Library Diversity and Residency Studies will be established along with an associated webinar series to disseminate research and practical guidance for institutions seeking information on diversity and residency programs in library settings.
