The Preservation and Access Education and Training program is central to NEH’s efforts to preserve and establish access to cultural heritage collections. Thousands of libraries, archives, museums, and historical organizations across the country maintain important collections of books and manuscripts, photographs, sound recordings and moving images, archaeological and ethnographic artifacts, art and material culture collections, electronic records, and digital objects. The challenge of preserving and making accessible such large and diverse holdings is enormous, and the need for knowledgeable staff is significant and ongoing.
Preservation and Access Education and Training grants are awarded to organizations that offer national or regional (multistate) education and training programs. Grants aim to help the staff of cultural institutions, large and small, obtain the knowledge and skills needed to serve as effective stewards of humanities collections. Grants also support educational programs that prepare the next generation of conservators and preservation professionals, as well as projects that introduce the staff of cultural institutions to new information and advances in preservation and access practices.
In the last five competitions the Preservation and Access Education and Training program received an average of twelve applications per year. The program made an average of seven awards per year, for a funding ratio of 58 percent.
The potential applicant pool for this program is limited, since the program supports education and training programs of regional or national scope. On the one hand, this has resulted in a small number of applications each year. On the other hand, the applications have tended to be very strong, which has led to higher funding ratios historically.
The number of application to an NEH grant program can vary widely from year to year, as can the funding ratio. Information about the average number of applications and awards in recent competitions is meant only to provide historical context for the current competition. Information on the number of applications and awards in individual competitions is available from firstname.lastname@example.org .
Program questions should be directed to NEH’s Division of Preservation and Access at 202-606-8570 or email@example.com . Hearing-impaired applicants can contact NEH via TDD at 1-866-372-2930.