Category: news

The Illinois Newspaper Project (INP) at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign Library has received a grant of $324,189 from the National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH), to digitize 100,000 pages of historical Illinois newspapers, as part of the National Digital Newspaper Program (NDNP), a partnership between the NEH and the Library of Congress. The Illinois Newspaper Project has been an NDNP partner since 2009, and has contributed over 600,000 pages of digitized newspaper content to Chronicling America, the digital newspaper collection of the Library of Congress. All Illinois newspapers digitized by the INP are also freely available on the Illinois Digital Newspaper Collections (IDNC)  website, which includes additional newspapers digitized thanks to other grants and generous patron donations.

The 2025-2027 grant will focus on Illinois newspapers that document the history of relations between Native American communities and settlers, from the early 19th century to the mid-20th century. The INP will partner with other Illinois cultural heritage repositories including the Newberry Library. Celestina Savonius-Wroth (head of the History, Philosophy, and Newspaper Library) and William Schlaack (Digital Reformatting Coordinator for Preservation Services) will lead the project. In addition to the project leads, the Illinois Newspaper Project team includes Jessie Knoles, Geoffrey Ross, and Chris Prom.

The INP received a 2022-2024 grant from NEH in 2022. Read more…

From the University Library and School of Information Sciences

On May 8, 2025, Librarian of Congress Carla Hayden was dismissed from office. On May 10, 2025, Shira Perlmutter, the Register of Copyrights and director of the Copyright Office, which is part of the Library of Congress, was also terminated. These unexpected decisions raise grave concerns for research libraries, including the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign Library, and for the national infrastructure that supports scholarship, access to knowledge, and preservation of cultural heritage.

As the nation’s oldest federal cultural institution, the Library of Congress (LC) is not only a symbol of democratic access to information, it is a critical partner in the research and teaching mission of academic libraries across the country. The loss of leadership at the highest level places at risk the programs, partnerships, and technical leadership that have long made the Library of Congress an essential institution for the nation and the world. LC houses exceptional and unique collections, including many that Library faculty at Illinois utilize and refer our researchers to. But LC is much more than a collection.

“The Library of Congress is an indispensable partner in our work,” said Claire Stewart, Juanita J. and Robert E. Simpson Dean of Libraries and University Librarian. “From digitization and preservation to cataloging and international acquisitions, LC enables us to support our scholars, preserve access to rare and important collections, and deliver high-quality research services. Its leadership is crucial not just to our institution, but to every citizen who relies on its services, and to the professional pipeline that ensures libraries will continue to serve the public well into the future.”

A National and Global Partner in Research and Access

The Library of Congress underpins much of the infrastructure that allows libraries to serve their communities. Its work in cataloging and classification, copyright records, and standards development helps ensure consistency and interoperability across library systems nationally. Through open data, digital preservation leadership (including the formats registry and Federal Agencies Digital Guidelines Initiative or FADGI digitization standards), and collaborative web archiving, LC shapes best practices that affect every level of library service and scholarship.

For international and area studies collections, LC is a unique asset. Its overseas field offices, in places like Islamabad, Cairo, and Nairobi, make possible the acquisition of rare materials that would otherwise be inaccessible. Our Global Studies librarians work closely with these offices and the LC’s Area Studies divisions to enhance our collections and support student and faculty research. LC’s collaborations with national libraries and copyright offices abroad have also helped open up access to materials critical for cross-border scholarship.

Digitization, Preservation, and Access

The Library of Congress is a driving force behind major national initiatives that make history publicly accessible. Its leadership in preservation, dating back to projects like the Slow Fires: On the Preservation of the Human Record film and continuing through today’s digital preservation efforts, has shaped how libraries care for their collections and ensure their longevity. Its partnership with the National Endowment for the Humanities, for example, led to the Chronicling America project, an open-access trove of digitized historic American newspapers that has long supported our own digital newspaper work. Without LC’s leadership, much of this work—and public access to it—would not exist.

Support for the Profession and the Public

The LC has long served as an incubator for library and information professionals, offering internships, fellowships, and professional development opportunities that shape the next generation of librarians, archivists, and preservationists. Programs like the Veterans Oral History Project and the American Folklife Center exemplify LC’s commitment to documenting diverse American experiences and ensuring broad public engagement with cultural heritage.

We also rely on LC’s support in data and analytics. Our work in copyright research, discovery systems, and bibliographic data has been strengthened by collaboration with LC’s technical staff. Their willingness to share expertise and work through technical challenges has helped us meet the evolving needs of scholars and users.

Advancing Policy Research and The Pursuit of Knowledge

One of LC’s most critical functions is the Congressional Research Service (CRS). CRS is a nonpartisan research service available to all members of Congress, on both sides of the aisle, and robustly supports members’ policy research objectives through a rigorous and unbiased process. CRS’ librarians and analysts work closely with congressional staff to conduct research across five major divisions, and many of the reports are published for free online, extending this knowledge support service to all citizens.

The Library of Congress is home to the U.S. Copyright Office, a key agency supporting authors, publishers, and the public through copyright registration, rulemaking, and research. The Office plays a vital role in balancing protections for creators with fair use rights for educators and researchers—a foundational function in any democratic society.

Sustaining and Supporting the Library of Congress

In an era when public access to information, trustworthy data, and reliable infrastructure is more important than ever, the leadership of the Library of Congress must be protected and strengthened. The dismissal of the Librarian of Congress without a clear transition or roadmap undermines the institution’s stability and risks the erosion of services on which scholars, educators, and communities rely.

We stand in solidarity with colleagues across the country in urging continued, transparent, and nonpartisan support for the Library of Congress and its mission. The Library is more than a repository—it is a pillar of American democracy and global scholarship.

The University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign values free speech and academic freedom as bedrock principles. The views and opinions expressed here belong to the speakers and do not necessarily reflect the views or positions of the university.

The University Library honors the memory of William H. Mischo, who passed away on April 20, 2025. Bill was a legendary figure among his colleagues—an innovator, mentor, and leader whose influence shaped not only the Grainger Engineering Library Information Center, but also the very systems through which countless users have discovered knowledge. His decades of service leave a lasting impact on the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign and throughout the wider world of library and information science. An excerpt from his obituary follows.

William H. Mischo began as Head of the Engineering Library in Engineering Hall in 1982 at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign. He developed science and technology library collections, worked with faculty to understand their research, and was a role model for other librarians on campus.

Bill was perhaps best known for the planning and construction of the world-class Grainger Engineering Library Information Center (GELIC), which opened on March 14, 1994, and is the northernmost landmark on the Bardeen Quad. Bill trained hundreds of new STEM librarians and information professionals who work around the world.

Soon after Grainger opened, Bill was a Principal Investigator on the Digital Library Initiative I (DLI-I), a National Science Foundation-funded grant in which research was developed to create digital journals and was a major change for information delivery.  In 1999, some of the very first Digital Object Identifiers (DOI), which are used to create unique identifiers for articles, books, chapters, and conferences, and are used to discover and connect information on the Web, were first created in GELIC.

Bill earned a reputation for developing innovative systems to make data accessible to end users. He created the campus’s digital portal and the “Easy Search” gateway software, a cornerstone of the University Library’s search and discovery strategy. His expertise led to his being named a 2015 Fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) for “research relevant to the development of new digital library technologies.”

Mischo was named the inaugural holder of The Berthold Family Professorship in Information Access and Discovery in 2015, a research endowment given by Carol Berthold.

Bill was a 1967 graduate of Hartford Union High School, Hartford, Wisconsin, and he earned a bachelor’s degree in mathematics from Carthage College in 1971 and a master’s degree in library and information science from the University of Wisconsin-Madison in 1974. In 2009, he received the Frederick G. Kilgour Award for Research in Library and Information Science from the American Library Association; in 2017, he took on additional leadership duties for a year as acting dean of libraries and university librarian.

Bill semi-retired in 2022 and served as an emeritus professor and bibliometrics and information research librarian and as The Berthold Family Professor Emeritus in Information Access and Delivery.  He continued to do research on bibliometrics and transaction log analysis to improve user systems.

On March 14, the White House issued an Executive Order calling for the elimination of the non-statutory components and functions of seven agencies, including the Institute of Museum and Library Services (IMLS); later actions put all staff at the agency on administrative leave. Discontinuation of all funding from IMLS appears imminent, and many grants have already been canceled, including grants to the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign Library. The White House also terminated more than 1,000 grants from the National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH) and indicated it intends to significantly reduce the agency’s staffing. The Library has received notification that its two grants from NEH have been canceled.

These developments mark a significant time for the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign and institutions nationwide. The loss of support from IMLS and NEH jeopardizes decades of sustained investment in cultural preservation, scholarly communication, and academic research.

“Funding from the National Endowment for the Humanities and the Institute of Museum and Library Services has been important in extending the life of, and access to, the renowned collections we hold at the University of Illinois. These grants have also advanced critical domain research and developed the faculty and staff whose expertise enhances the success of our students and faculty. Although most IMLS and NEH grants are modest compared to the large grants from federal science agencies, the matching funds we have been able to attract thanks to this federal support have significantly extended our reach, helping to meet students and scholars where they are, across our state and around the world,” said Juanita J. and Robert E. Simpson Dean of Libraries and University Librarian Claire Stewart. “We feel it’s important to share this information with those who utilize our Library. Eliminating this funding will endanger vital advances in research and service innovation for years to come.”

National Endowment for the Humanities

Since 1966, the NEH has provided over 40 grants to the Library, totaling more than $20M in direct support. These include:

• Preservation microfilming of non-English language materials, newspapers, musical scores, and other materials
• Processing of archival materials such as the Carl Sandburg Papers
• Planning for cooperative preservation programs
• Development of an endowment for ongoing support of cataloging, preservation, and access projects
• HVAC improvements for archival storage and preservation
• Newspaper cataloging, microfilming, and digitization
• Digitization of emblem book collections
• Application of machine learning to archival materials

The termination of NEH grant funding directly affects two current Library projects: the Illinois Digital Newspaper Project and “No Longer at the Margins: A Digital Project to Amplify Access to the Archives of Women in Science.”

Since 1989, the Illinois Digital Newspaper Project and its predecessor projects in the Library have been awarded more than $5.6M in grant funding from NEH. These funds have supported the cataloging of thousands of Illinois newspaper titles, the microfilming of selected publications, and the digitization of nearly 615,000 pages from newspapers published across the state—many representing unique ethnic, political, and religious communities. The current phase of the project focuses on digitizing 100,000 pages, concentrating on newspapers from suburban areas and southern Illinois. The current NEH grant is nearly complete; however, another round of funding has been requested to support the digitization of newspapers by or about Native Americans in Illinois.

“No Longer at the Margins” is a digital project to expand access to archives of women in science, beginning with domestic science collections from the University of Illinois and the University of Minnesota. The project involves digitizing 21 linear feet of material and developing partnerships, workshops, protocols, and machine-generated datasets for computational research.

“The goal of this project was to use computational tools such as AI and machine learning on digitized archival materials to discover and promote the work of women scientists in the field of home economics, which historically was an important, if not the only way that women were able to gain entry into the scientific community,” said Bethany Anderson, Natural and Applied Sciences Archivist. “Without this funding, Illinois’s vital contributions to the field of home economics, and to the advancement of women in STEM, will continue to be underexplored if not totally unknown. As we see it, this is a devastating blow to our community’s attempt to recruit women into STEM fields and it comes at a time when science and engineering are more important than ever.”

NEH has been a consistent supporter of innovation in preservation and access, scholarly publishing, and digital humanities. Currently, several Library applications are pending with uncertain outcomes, and the Library faces reduced capacity to pursue future funding in these areas.

Institute of Museum and Library Services

Research libraries across the country benefit immensely from funding provided by the Institute of Museum and Library Services (IMLS), which was established in 1996, from predecessor offices dating back to 1937. This support enables libraries to undertake transformative projects that preserve history, expand access to knowledge, and enhance efficiency in serving their communities.

For instance, IMLS funding has supported the development of collaborative, multi-state initiatives to build comprehensive shared collections. These projects ensure that regional cultures and histories are preserved and accessible for generations to come, serving both public and academic library users.

Since 1998, the Urbana campus has received $22,925,237 of funding via 70 IMLS awards through its National Leadership and Laura Bush 21st Century Librarian Programs. Of these, 24 awards totaling $7,044,501 were made to the Library. The grants funded a range of priorities, including digital library development, digitization, software development, preservation assessment, mobile app development, and other areas.

In the Library, IMLS most recently funded a National Leadership Grant to develop a technical standard for preserving email messages in PDF format. After previously receiving support from the Mellon Foundation, this implementation grant was a highly effective use of federal funds, fostering both a library/industry partnership with the PDF Association and proof-of-concept software that improves archival preservation of digital records.

“While work on this grant is largely complete, its termination, along with that of every other outstanding IMLS grant across the nation, points to a serious backtracking from longstanding and bipartisan federal support for libraries, archives, and museums,” said Professor Christopher Prom, director of the project. “The National Leadership and Laura Bush 21st Century Librarian grants, which were awarded under a highly competitive peer review process, also provided essential employment and professional training opportunities for generations of students and new professionals. This leaves us with a triple loss: to the institutions, to individuals, and to the public interest.”

Broader impacts include cuts affecting the Illinois Heartland Library System (IHLS), which provides interlibrary loan services statewide. IMLS funding through its Grants to States program is specifically targeted in Illinois to facilitate the delivery of books and library materials to support interlibrary loan services. In FY24, the Library loaned 13,721 items through I-Share to libraries across the state and borrowed 7,063 materials through I-Share for users on the Urbana campus. This funding also supports interlibrary loan program and information needs through the OCLC nonprofit, formerly the Online Computer Library Center. More than 1,000 libraries in Illinois use OCLC WorldCat Discovery/FirstSearch services. During FY24, Illinois libraries conducted nearly one million citation searches to serve their library patrons and support their library operations.

News release courtesy of the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign News Bureau:

The Rare Book and Manuscript Library at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign has acquired a rare first edition of Plato’s works printed in the Greek language.

The “editio princeps” was printed in Venice in 1513 by Aldus Manutius, the founder of Aldine Press, one of the most successful printing houses of the time.

“It was the beginning of a flourishing of classical studies, and this work contributed to that in great measure. One can’t overestimate the importance of the work in its time and place and what it did for classical scholarship,” said Kirk Sanders, a professor of classics and of philosophy and an expert in ancient philosophy.

The purchase of the book was a joint effort between RBML; the classics library collection, part of the Literatures and Languages Library; and donors George and Jamie Reveliotis of Chicago. George Reveliotis is an Illinois alumnus and a supporter of the classics department.

“We are deeply pleased to add this landmark work of Greek letters to the collections here at Illinois and we’re grateful for the donors that made that possible,” said Lynne M. Thomas, the head of RBML.

It is estimated that around 200 volumes were printed and about 40 are still in existence, Sanders said. “Our classics library is one of the largest and the best libraries for classical studies in North America and in the world. It has an enormous collection. To add something like this in RBML is a wonderful new acquisition,” he said.

The book was part of an attempt in the 16th century to revive classical studies and the study of Greek philosophy.

“This was part of a conscious attempt to make accessible in their original language the entirety of the works of Plato for study. It was incredibly important for reigniting interest in the study of Plato in the West,” Sanders said. “It was dedicated to Pope Leo X in the hope that he would be the savior of classical studies and establish something like a new Platonic Academy.”

RBML has about 30 other titles printed by Aldine Press, including about half of the works that were printed in Greek during Manutius’ lifetime. Aldine Press was “a precursor of what we think of as a university press. It was the first to put together side-by-side translations and works for scholarly study,” Thomas said.

Printing the volume of Plato’s works in Greek was a massive undertaking, said RBML curator Cait Coker.

“One of the things that is extraordinary about it is that the Greek typography is really challenging because of all the accents. The letter ‘a’ has 46 different versions,” Coker said. “Despite the difficulties of developing Greek typography, Greek literature was very important, and its classical texts were standard bodies of work read by scholarly people.”

Manutius created new set of Greek typographical characters based on handwriting and made specifically for printing this work, said Elias Petrou, the librarian for classical studies, medieval studies and modern Greek studies in the Literatures and Languages Library. The process of creating the typeset itself may have taken up to a decade, he said.

Manutius implemented several technological advances in printing the Plato volume, Petrou said. Manutius created smaller, portable books that could be carried around, in contrast to the massive books that had to be used in the place where they were kept. While the Plato volume is quite large by today’s standards, it was small for its time, he said.

Manutius used compressed paper and italics to save space, and he introduced the use of punctuation such as the comma and semicolon to help readers better understand what they were reading, Petrou said. The text of the Plato book is in the middle of the pages, with wide empty margins for users to make notes. The book purchased by RBML has very few notes and is in its original condition other than being rebound in the 17th or 18th century, he said.

“This is in mint condition. It looks like almost no one touched it,” Petrou said.

Sanders said he is looking forward to taking students to see the volume.

“It’s amazingly beautiful. It’s the sort of thing to get students excited about the history of scholarship and ancient philosophy,” he said.

The book will travel to a Feb. 10 event at Chicago’s National Hellenic Museum to celebrate its acquisition with the Reveliotis family, other members of Chicago’s Greek community, the consul general of Greece in Chicago, Greek dignitaries and classics scholars. The event coincides with celebrations for the International Day of the Greek Language on Feb. 9. The volume will be packaged in a padded travel case, and RBML commissioned a new traveling exhibit case, which is being made by the university’s mill shop, Thomas said.

A similar event to showcase the new volume will take place on campus in May.