Washington, D.C. - U.S. Rep. Tim Johnson today announced the award of a $249,983 grant to the University of Illinois Library to help save old films and sound recordings in danger of deterioration.

“What they’re doing at the Library is preserving valuable artifacts of our heritage and culture,” said Rep. Johnson, who majored in history at the UI. “I couldn’t be happier to have worked for this award that will benefit not only my alma mater but future generations whose understanding and appreciation for the past will be enhanced with this work.”   

The National Leadership Grant comes from the federal Institute of Museum and Library Services (IMLS). Institutions selected to receive the grants have demonstrated their projects will have national impact and generate results that can be widely replicated. This year, IMLS received 183 applications for the grants seeking more than $60 million. Thirty-seven projects were chosen for funding with a total of $11.3 million.

The federal funding is also leveraging matching funds. In this case, the U. of I. is providing matching funds in the amount of $171,338 through staff hours and supplies dedicated to the project.

Jennifer Hain Teper, conservation librarian for the U. of I. Library, will lead the project, which is scheduled to begin this fall.

“The award of this grant will mean a lot,” Teper said, “not only in an immediate sense to the University of Illinois and its irreplaceable audio-visual collections, but it will also have a great national impact. While we have the expertise on our campus to develop such a tool, in the end we hope that its benefits will reach much farther than the borders of our campus by helping many, smaller libraries and archives to plan for the preservation of their audio-visual heritage.”

Under the grant, the U. of I. Library will develop and test an Audio-Visual Self-Assessment Program for preservation of and access to endangered recorded sound and moving image collections. Partners include the Illinois Heritage Association and the Consortium of Academic and Research Libraries in Illinois.

Within the U. of I., participating units include the Spurlock Museum, WILL AM/FM and TV, the Department of Dance and Krannert Center for the Performing Arts.

FOR MORE INFORMATION, contact Jennifer Hain Teper at (217) 244-5689.

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