Lightning Talk from a 2019 Cohort Fellow on the Authenticity Project Fellowship
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The Authenticity Project Fellowship Program is a joint, three-year project (2019-2021) between the HBCU Library Alliance (HBCU LA) and the Council on Library and Information Resources’ Digital Library Federation (CLIR/DLF), and applicants were notified of their selection in December 2018 for the 2019 Cohort beginning in January. The project is funded by the Institute of Museum and Library Services (IMLS) Grant RE-70-18-0121-18 to support three annual 15-person cohorts of early- to mid-career librarians from historically black colleges and universities and promote genuine exchange among participants from HBCUs and predominantly white institutions (PWI). It grew out of a previous collaboration between HBCU LA and CLIR/DLF for their Forum Pre-conference for HBCU and liberal arts college participants, alongside a conference travel fellowship program for 24 DLF HBCU Fellows. In each year of the Authenticity Project’s Fellowship, fifteen Fellows are matched to a voluntary library mentor associated with an HBCU LA library, or with a strong HBCU background, and a Conversation Partner from the DLF membership, to assist them with professional development goals, networking opportunities, grants, and various projects of interest to them and their respective libraries. Fellows will also receive full funding for travel, lodging, and registration to attend the annual DLF Forum in Tampa, FL in October 2019 and Learn@DLF workshops, in addition to access to cohort online discussion spaces, in-person networking opportunities, and microgrant funding opportunities for inter-institutional projects. Fellows will participate in quarterly facilitated discussions online and are encouraged to make the most of this year-long, intensive mentorship opportunity.