Greetings Colleagues, I'm sharing this opportunity on behalf of Sharon M. Burney, Program Officer, CLIR, for Black Librarians and Cultural Heritage Professionals, to engage in healing and meaningful dialogue through the CLIR-funded Safe Spaces for Cultural Heritage program. More information and the nomination form can be found below. _________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ Safe Spaces for Cultural Heritage is providing the opportunity for Black librarians and cultural heritage professionals to come together in an intimate space to heal and dialogue on topics of racism, trauma, and transgressions in the workplace. Safe Spaces for Cultural Heritage will be more than just an intellectual dialogue, but to hear from the lived experiences of Black librarians. In these challenging times, more than ever, Black librarians and cultural heritage professionals need a trusted space to share, heal, and develop small scale solutions to support equity in their home communities without fear of retaliation. You are invited to nominate a Black librarian and/or cultural heritage professional to participate in the Safe Spaces for Cultural Heritage program. Safe Spaces for Cultural Heritage will be led by experienced librarians and cultural heritage professionals with expertise in Black studies, racial trauma, and healing, and library community engagement. The facilitators will select 20 participants from among the nominees, keeping the following criteria in mind: · No more than one employee of a single organization may participate; · Selected participants will represent a variety of types and sizes of libraries and archives; · Selected participants will represent a variety of geographic regions across the U.S.; · Selected participants will represent a variety of career stages; · Selected participants should currently hold a range of different types of roles (public services, technical services, special collections and archives, administration, etc.). · Selected participants will commit to protecting the confidentiality of other participants; to taking approaches to reflective practice and self-care that may be new to them; and to creating a mutually supportive environment in all program activities; and · Selected participants will propose creative, practical, and potentially replicable ideas for advancing community equity through small projects (up to $3,000). · Selected participants will commit to contributing to the final report and marketing by sharing comments or testimonies of their experiences. The community-parity project guidelines will be established by the facilitation team and provided to aspiring participants. The projects will center on actions, events, resources, or creative works that address current needs in specific communities within and around library organizations. For example, participants may propose to organize a community event for Black History Month, purchase technology to empower community members to document local history, present a special edition on their experience for library journals or conferences, or host a panel discussion that explores strategies for addressing community concerns. Anyone interested in participating can do so at this link: Safe Spaces for Cultural Heritage Nomination<https://clir.smapply.io/prog/safe_spaces/>. The call for nomination closes May 29, 2025. If you have any questions do not hesitate to contact me at sburney@clir.org Thank you, Sharon Sharon M. Burney Program Officer 📍Based in Midlothian, Virginia Council on Library and Information Resources (CLIR) Arlington. VA Shaneé Yvette Willis, M.Div/MLS Program Manager at HBCU Library Alliance<http://hbculibraries.org/> Phone: (678) 210-5801 ext. 103 Web: hbculibraries.org<http://hbculibraries.org/> Email: swillis@hbculibraries.org<mailto:swillis@hbculibraries.org>