SAA Foundation Awards Disaster Recovery Grant to La Casa del Libro

The Society of American Archivists Foundation has just awarded a disaster recovery grant to La Casa del Libro Book Museum in Puerto Rico. 

The $4,950 grant from the SAA Foundation will support the museum's efforts to recover from damage their collections sustained from Hurricane Maria. This unique institution has more than 6,000 volumes in its rare book collection, from manuscripts and incunabula (early printed books from 1450 to 1501), to "the most worthwhile productions of our time," as part of the museum's mission to show tangibly the history of the book. 

This award was made from the Foundation’s National Disaster Recovery Fund for Archives, established by SAA and the Society of Southwest Archivists in 2005 to assist repositories affected by Hurricane Katrina. The scope of the Fund was later expanded to provide grants to repositories throughout the U.S., regardless of region or repository type. In November 2017, the Foundation Board further expanded the Fund by increasing the maximum grant amount to $5,000 and noting that, “Although the NDRFA is pointed toward the states, District of Columbia, and territories of the United States, under exceptional circumstances we will consider awarding grants to non-U.S. entities.”

The NDRFA Grant Review Committee continues to receive and review applications, primarily from those affected by Hurricane Maria. Currently serving on that group are Miriam Meislik (Chair, institution), Richard Cameron (institution), Rebecca Elder (institution), Daniel McCormack (institution), Eve Neiger (institution), Melissa Torres (institution), and Julie Yamashita (institution).

If you would like to help support institutions through their disaster recovery efforts, consider donating to the NDRFA Fund. 

Learn more about the National Disaster Recovery Fund for Archives and, if your institution has recently suffered damage from a natural disaster, consider applying for a grant.

The SAA Foundation is the nation’s leading source of nonprofit funding dedicated to the interests of archives and archivists. Donations to the SAA Foundation, a 501(c)(3) organization, are tax deductible.