ACRL News Issue (B) of College & Research Libraries 294 / C&RL News ■ April 1998 G r a n t s a n d A c q u i s i t i o n s Ann-Christe Young Indiana University Bloomington (IUB) Libraries received a $164,000 grant from The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation to launch a program that prepares area studies Ph.D.s for positions as research librarians. Under the new program, post-doctoral fellows who have already studied a certain area o f the world extensively will learn aspects o f librarianship under the guidance o f an exp erien ced area studies librarian. The knowledge these fellows have acquired in their doctoral studies— whether in literature, history, or the social sciences— will provide the foundation upon which to build the information and instructional skills necessary for them to becom e area studies librarians. Twelve historically black colleges and universities have been awarded nearly $2.4 million from Lilly Endowment Inc. through its Strengthening Institutions Program. Almost half o f the 23 schools that were awarded grants plan to address issues o f student retention; others are planning projects to enhance technology capabilities for students and faculty, improve student writing, and streamline processes such as registration. The following schools were awarded grants: Bethune-Cookman College in Dayton Beach, Florida; Dillard University in New Orleans, Louisiana; Hampton (Virginia) University; Jarvis Christian College in Hawkins, Texas; L e M o y n e -O w e n C o lle g e in M em p h is, Tennessee; Rust College in Holly Springs, Mississippi; Spelman College in Atlanta, Georgia; Tuskegee (Alabama) University; Virginia Union University in Richmond, Virginia; Wilberforce (O hio) University; Wiley College in Marshall, Texas; Xavier University o f Louisiana in New Orleans. Tisch Library at Tufts U n iversity in Medford, Massachusetts, received $42,500 for two projects aimed at retraining library staff to w ork in a hig h -tech , digital library environment and to prepare students and faculty to use such technology. The awards are the first from the Berger Family Technology Transfer Endowment, which was created by Tufts alumnus and trustee Louis Berger shortly before his death in 1996. The University of South Carolina’s Film Library has received a $30,000 grant from the American Film Institute National Center for Film and Video Preservation to preserve endangered Fox Movietonews footage. Over 16,000 feet o f silent-era film, which currently exists only in its original nitrate form, will be preserved. The time period covered by the project will be from 1919 through the end of the 1920s. Libraries for the Future and Friends of Libraries USA received a $226,500 grant from the Viburnum Foundation for the first two years o f the Community-Library Advocacy Project. The project is a major national initiative to strengthen library advocacy around the country. The Community-Library Advocacy Project will build and strengthen relationships betw een communities and public libraries by developing tools and resources for local library advocacy, and by establishing a national advocacy bureau to serve as a clearinghouse for the exchange o f ideas, models, and resources among library advocates across the country. The project will also establish a network o f skilled volunteer advocates to conduct mentoring workshops and advocacy training with library users. A c q u i s i t i o n s The Thirteen/W N ET A rth u r G odfrey collection was donated to the Broadcast Pioneers Library o f American Broadcasting, located on the campus o f the University o f Maryland. The co lle ctio n , w hich spans Godfrey’s 50-year radio and television career, Ed. note: Send your news to: Grants & Acquisitions, C&RL News, 50 E. Huron St, Chicago, IL 60611-2795; e-mail: ayoung@ala.org. mailto:ayoung@ala.org C&RL News ■ A pril 1 9 9 8 / 2 9 5 The dem ise o f A r th u r G o d fre y ’s (le ft) career is usually a ttrib u te d to his o n -th e -a ir fir in g o f singer Julius LaRosa (rig h t) in O c to b e r 1953. was donated to the libraries by WNET, the major public broadcasting outlet in the New York City metropolitan area. Some 248 boxes of materials and six filled filing cabinets com prise the collection that consists o f audiotapes and videotapes, music scores, ló m m films, scripts, ph otog rap h s, and thousands of wire recordings containing most o f the Godfrey radio programs. Most of the wire recordings must be played on a special wire recording machine that is a part o f the collection; eventually the recordings will be converted to audiotape. G od frey’s Talent Scouts, a vehicle for aspiring professionals to be discovered, led to stardom for the likes o f Carmel Quinn, Pat B o o n e , th e M cG uire S isters, Rosemary C looney, Tony Bennett, Connie Francis, Steve Lawrence, Al Martino, Leslie Uggams, and Roy Clark. Ironically, Elvis Presley auditioned for SNET E. A uthe program but was not selected. (U C o Rese SNET and the University of Connecticut (U C o n n ) have e n tered into a form al, continuing partnership to create a special collection of SNET historical documents and photographs at UConn’s Thomas J. Dodd Research Center. According to Thomas P. Wilsted, director o f the Dodd Center, the SNET Collection, when all material has been transferred, will weigh more than 17 tons and total approximately 2.5 million documents, b e c o m in g th e s e c o n d la rg e st p riv ate collection at the center. Items currently in the collection, which date from the late 1870s to the present, include historical photographs o f buildings, em ployees, and equipment; town telephone histories; public relations and promotional materials; financial records; and interesting correspondence, such as notes from and about Mark Twain and his som etim es antagonistic exp eriences with the telephone. Dancer and choreographer Bella Lewitzky’s collection was acquired by the University o f Southern California. The donation to the Department o f Special Collections includes photographs, production files, tour notes, videos, costum es, and financial records documenting the long career o f this figure in modern dance. Dick Thornburgh, former governor of Pennsylvania and U.S. attorney general (1 9 8 8 - 1991), has donated his papers and associated materials to the archives at the University Library System at the University of Pittsburgh. The Dick Thornburgh Archival Collection C hairm an and CEO D aniel M ig lio (le ft) and P hilip s tin , p re s id e n t o f th e U n iv e rs ity o f C o n n e c tic u t n n ) w it h a r tifa c ts fr o m th e T h o m a s J. D o d d arch Center. represents the full span of Thornburgh’s life and career to date, from his community participation in the early 1960s through his p o sitio n s at lo cal, state, nation al, and international levels. The more than 1,500 cubic feet o f papers, photographs, videos, and m em o rab ilia will p rov id e sc h o la rs an opportunity to research issues of leadership and public policy development.