Grants
Seward Family Digital Archive
(Sustained since 2014 through grants from the Robert David Lion Gardiner Foundation, the Fred L. Emerson Foundation, and the National Historical Publications and Records Commission)
A collaboration between the University’s Department of History, the River Campus Libraries’ department of Rare Books, Special Collections, and Preservation, and the Digital Scholarship Lab, the Seward Family Digital Archive brings together students in the humanities and computer science, residents of retirement communities, and retired volunteers from the greater Rochester area to help transcribe the thousands of Seward family letters, all written in Victorian-era cursive handwriting.
New York Data Carpentries Library Consortium
(Funded by a 2019 IMLS Grant)
The University of Rochester River Campus Libraries (Emily Sherwood, Director of the Digital Scholarship Lab, as founding lead) partnered with colleagues at Colgate, Cornell, and Syracuse universities to deliver cost-free training to academic, public, and school librarians, using a train-the-trainer method. Consortium members have formed a community of practice that builds data skills, including accessing, analyzing, using, and visualizing data across different types of librarian settings.
Assistive Technology Collection
(Funded by a 2020 RRLC Technology Grant)
The River Campus Libraries will provide a rich resource for RRLC members to educate themselves and their communities on assistive technology and its role in inclusive digital literacy.
Voices of LGBT History in Rochester, New York
(Funded by a 2017 NEH Grant)
The River Campus Libraries and the Gay Alliance of the Genesee Valley (GAGV) were awarded a grant from the NEH Humanities Collections and Reference Resources Foundation to create a pilot project that will preserve and provide wider access to a significant collection of documents focused on the history of the LGBTQ civil rights movement in the Rochester, New York area.
Fellowships
Helen Ann Mins Robbins Fellowship
The fellowship was endowed by the Robbins family to support a year of research at the Rossell Hope Robbins Library for an external PhD candidate in medieval studies. Candidates must be enrolled at an institution other than the University of Rochester and should be within 1-2 years of completing their dissertation. Candidates are expected to be in residence in Rochester during their fellowship year.
Awards
Robert Metzdorf Award
Since 1993, the Friends of the University of Rochester Libraries have given the Robert F. Metzdorf Award to those who distinguished themselves with "contributions and meritorious service to the libraries."
Research Initiative Award for Undergraduates
This annual award recognizes excellence in the early phases of undergraduate research, demonstrated by the initiation and organization of a project leading towards a senior thesis, capstone project, or an independent research project.
University of Rochester Student Book Collection Award
An annual award that encourages interest in book collecting among University of Rochester students in all colleges of the University.
Carlson Library and Rush Rhees Library Art Purchase Prizes
Annual awards in which student artwork is purchased by the River Campus Libraries and placed in its permanent art collections.
Staff Awards and Honors
The River Campus Libraries staff have garnered many accolades; below is a partial list of recent awards and honors.
Elizabeth Andre (Library Section Supervisor, ILL) - 2020 RRLC Library All Star
Maggie Dull (Head of Metadata Strategies) - Winner of the 2020 Esther J. Piercy Award
Emily Sherwood (Director, Digital Scholarship Lab) - Named one of Library Journal's 2020 Movers & Shakers
Julia Maddox (Director, Barbara J. Burger iZone) - Named one of Library Journal's 2019 Movers & Shakers
Myra Henry (Deputy Dean, River Campus Libraries) - Recipient of the University of Rochester 2018 Presidential Diversity Award
River Campus Libraries Awards and Honors
2019 'ARLies' Film Festival Winner - Best of Collections-Focused Films
The River Campus Libraries was awarded the best “Collection-Focused” film at the fourth annual 2019 ARLIES Film Festival at the recent Association of Research Libraries meeting in Minneapolis. “Farewell to Frederick Douglass” was produced by Matthew Mann, University of Rochester Communications, narrated by Autumn Haag, Special Collections Librarian/Archivist for Research & Collections, and performed by Jonathan Rhodes '20E (tenor), and Lee Wright '03E, '18E (DMA, piano), Eastman School of Music.
