East Stroudsburg University of Pennsylvania (ESU) has received $5,900 from the inaugural round of Humanities Access grants awarded through the National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH). The grant will be used for the preservation of the special collections in ESU\u2019s Kemp Library.\u00a0Kelly Smith, archives and special collections librarian, proposed the project and will be its project director overseeing its implementation. The NEH is a competitive federal agency from which to secure grants, and this is the first NEH award received by ESU.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis grant is a prerequisite for larger NEH grants,\u201d said Jingfeng Xia, Ph.D., dean of library and university collections at ESU. \u201cI am optimistic about the potential to secure other funds to support our efforts to preserve our special collections and make them more accessible.\u201d<\/p>\n
Concerns related to the storage and management of the collections, in addition to the preparation for a move to a new location in the future Keystone Center, necessitate a preservation assessment by a professional consultant trained in the care of cultural collections.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe humanities help us study our past, understand our present, and prepare for our future,\u201d said NEH Chairman William D. Adams. \u201cThe National Endowment for the Humanities is proud to support projects that will benefit all Americans and remind us of our shared human experience.\u201d<\/p>\n
The special collections in ESU\u2019s library that will benefit from this grant include the Sterling Strauser Gallery Collection and the Al Cohn Memorial Jazz Collection.<\/p>\n