The Preservation and Access Education and Training program supports the development of knowledge and skills among professionals responsible for preserving and establishing access to humanities 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, regional, or statewide education and training programs across the pedagogical landscape and at all stages of development. 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 support projects that prepare the next generation of preservation professionals, as well as projects that introduce heritage practitioners to new information and advances in preservation and access practices.

What’s New for 2019

Eligibility has been expanded to include projects that offer national, regional, or statewide education and training programs across the pedagogical landscape, and at all stages of development. Project budgets should reflect the scope and needs of the project.

The maximum award for all projects is $350,000, for a period of performance of up to three years. Awards should support project-specific costs such as, but not limited to, student or participant financial aid (tuition remission is an unallowable cost), travel, non-tenured faculty salaries, guest speakers, equipment and supplies, curriculum development, and production of educational resources. All other considerations being equal, NEH gives preference to those projects that dedicate most, if not all, requested outright funding to support project-specific costs (as opposed to institutional or operational support more broadly).

Mindful of the importance of preserving cultural heritage threatened by natural disasters, and recognizing the importance of planning, mitigation, and long-term recovery efforts, we encourage applications from, and projects that support, cultural institutions in federally designated disaster areas. Project activities may include training sessions related to recovery efforts, development of statewide or regional mutual aid consortia, and workshops focused on emergency planning and response.