Tracing African American life from its beginnings in North America through the present, the materials of the Rose Library’s African American collections focus on the development of social, political, and cultural movements, literature, the visual arts, dance, sports, and more. Not only does the collection celebrate the efforts of well-known public intellectuals, scholars, writers, and religious leaders, it shines a light on the contributions of lesser-known community activists, cultural workers, and African Americans from divergent backgrounds and perspectives.

Gifts to 2O36 will support growing and caring for these collections, and provide funding for exhibitions and programs so Emory’s African American collections can be studied and appreciated by Emory students, researchers, and all of Atlanta.

By digitizing our varied collections, Emory’s digital library program preserves and provides access to these unique—in some cases, one-of-a-kind—pieces. Your support for 2O36 allows us to staff, curate, digitize, and preserve these collections. Once fully funded, digital access to these collections will be available to students and scholars around the world, regardless of means or ability to travel to Emory’s campus.

Librarians across specific disciplines are continuously looking to grow their collections in order to provide the best resources possible for scholars of their subject matter. Funding for general collections allows Emory Libraries to develop, care for, and expand holdings in every category, and to preserve their materials for future generations. This much-needed funding will support collections development and care across the eight libraries on our campus.

Stories from the COVID-19pandemic and Ebola survivors. The struggles and successes of first-generation students and those who identify as Latinx, Black, and LGBTQ. Currently focused on these timely tales and the voices of underrepresented populations at Emory, the oral history program collects, preserves, and provides access to the stories and experiences of peoples and cultures.

Giving a platform to those who haven’t always had one, the oral history program preserves these voices and makes them accessible to all. With the financial help of 2O36, we can collect more stories, host workshops on storytelling and story capturing, and partner with other similarly minded groups to continuously expand these oral collections.

Emory Libraries have a traveling exhibitions program that allows us to share our archives and unique collections with a wider audience, taking these collections into K-12 schools, public libraries, and other spaces to connect with the community and broaden access to these extraordinary works.

Funding from 2O36 would allow the libraries to digitize materials, build exhibitions, and expand physical installations throughout the city of Atlanta and beyond. The partnerships that the traveling exhibition program develops will deepen Emory Libraries’ engagement with and connection to the community, increase our visibility, and encourage the use of our collections.

From monitoring the environments of both rare and wide circulation collections to restoring materials to their former glory and preparing for disasters, the Emory Libraries preservation program oversees all preservation activities across libraries.

Funding provides the preservation program with the tools, equipment, training, and resources needed to care for our collections now and in the future. This preservation will ensure that our collections remain accessible to generations of scholars.