Company Profile
HBCU Library Alliance
Company Overview
The HBCU Library Alliance is a consortium that supports the collaboration of information professionals dedicated to providing an array of resources designed to strengthen White House-designated Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs) and their constituents. The mission is to transform its membership by developing leaders, preserving collections, and planning for the future.
HBCU libraries’ collections contain rare and unique materials with the potential to enrich current narratives about the history of American education; the scholarship, activism, and public service of HBCU presidents, faculty, and alumni; slavery, World War II, and the civil rights movement; the activities of African American religious organizations and leaders; African and African diaspora studies; and more. Despite their unparalleled significance, substantial proportions of special collections and archives at HBCU libraries are not easily accessible to campus communities and the public. Significant talent and funds are required to assess, house, describe, and digitize these materials so that they are widely discoverable and useful. One of the goals of the HBCU Library Alliance is to bring long-deserved attention to this need and to make the case for large-scale investments in this critical work.
Company History
In 2001, the directors and deans of libraries at Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs) engaged in a dialogue to determine ways of strengthening library programs and services through increased cooperation. The dialogue took place through a listserv established for that purpose, individual discussions, and open forums at the 2001 and 2002 Southeastern Library Network (SOLINET) Annual Membership Meetings. Participants in those discussions explored common opportunities and challenges that could be addressed through collaborative efforts among HBCU libraries.
There was consensus that increased cooperation among HBCU libraries could be effective in strengthening the role of libraries on each campus, improving preservation of and access to the unique cultural resources, developing staff, and sharing expertise and resources among libraries. The Membership Meeting’s purpose was to summarize the ideas expressed about potential cooperative activities in those areas and to organize those ideas into categories as a basis for further discussion, brainstorming, and prioritization. During the initial conference, the goal was to establish agreement as to a plan of action for implementing cooperative activities and a potential HBCU library organization.
Breakout discussion sessions were held on those categories at the HBCU Library Organizational Meeting in Atlanta, Georgia on October 28 and 29, 2002. The HBCU Library Alliance recognizes the outstanding support of the SOLINET Board of Directors for that meeting.
Visit the HBCU Library Alliance website at hbculibraries.org to learn more about the organization.