The History Section of the Reference and User Services Association is seeking research proposals for a $2,500 research grant. The History Research and Innovation Award, sponsored by Gale, a Cengage Company, is looking for research proposals related to history and history librarianship. The deadline for proposal applications is January 5, 2018.
This year’s winner, Wayne A. Wiegand, author and F. William Summers Professor Emeritus of Library and Information Studies at Florida State University, was selected for his research proposal which promises to fill a significant gap in the history of public school libraries and to draw much-needed attention to an institution that, as Wiegand puts it, “boasts a rich history of service to tens of thousands of schoolteachers and administrators and millions of K-12 users of both sexes, all creeds, races, sexual orientations, ethnicities, and social classes.” Wiegand is also author of Part of Our Lives: A People’s History of the American Public Library (Oxford University Press, 2015).
Watch Wiegand’s recent lecture during his visit to the Library of Congress: How Long, O Lord, Do We Roam in the Wilderness? A History of School Librarianship
Wiegand’s other research includes highlighting the forgotten heroes of civil rights history and challenging traditional assumptions about the libraries’ role in the community.
Does your library historical research project need funding? Submit your proposal today! Questions regarding the application and/or nomination submission process can be directed to the committee chair, Christina Shutt, christina.shutt@arkansas.gov.