THF Report on its NEH Grant Proposal

Digital Librarian Garry Eaton oversaw a grant proposal process and request on behalf of The Haiku Foundation from the National Endowment for the Humanities during fiscal year 2015. Here is a synopsis of his process:
 
 

The Haiku Foundation has a hard copy book collection which consists of more than 7 thousand volumes of haiku and haiku-related publications. For several years volunteers have been scanning the contents of volumes selected from this collection, cataloging them and presenting them online in the Foundation’s Digital Library. The books that appear in the “Book of the Week” feature on this website and the 360 books currently available online in our digital library are the result of that effort.

Earlier this year, as digital librarian, I began to study ways we could speed up this digitization process and thereby grow our online library more quickly. It was soon obvious that given the amount of work volunteers already do, grant money to assist them would be required to meet this goal. I proceeded to research opportunities for grant money and found that the National Endowment for the Humanities had a grant program in place that seemed made for projects such as ours. In the end, in consultation with the board of THF, I proposed to apply to the NEH for a cash grant.

This application process required us to go through some careful planning and budgeting to arrive at a credible dollar figure for our grant and a feasible plan as to just how it would be spent. Basically, the plan is to purchase a fast scanning machine and hire contractors to operate it on a part-time basis for a period of three years, producing several thousand new scans that will then be catalogued and eventually appear online.

The deadline for applications for grants to begin in 2016 was July 21, 2015, and we were able to pull together a plausible plan and file an application that met most of the NEH’s requirements by that date. At this time, the application is still pending, though we anticipate a response fairly soon. As soon as we know, you will know.

If you like our digital library and want to see it grow, please consider contributing to our efforts, either as a financial donor or as a volunteer.

The NEH reconvened to consider grant applications in November 2015, and it was our hope that we would have a final report to offer you by the time of this fundraiser. Unfortunately we have not yet heard anything definitive. We feel the Digital Library is one of our most important initiatives, and finding ways to expand it and make its contents more readily available are paramount to our mission. We hope you feel likewise, and will help us fund and man this critical work. Please contact us if you feel you would like to be involved.

Please consider making a donation to The Haiku Foundation during our Fundraising Drive, November 26 – December 6, and help the Foundation continue its important work. And visit our Gift Shop to get cool haiku gifts in return for making your donation. Thank you.

2015 Fundraiser Schedule

• November 26: In Memoriam, a tribute to haiku poets who have left the community in the past 2 years; the release of Raymond Roseliep: Man of Art who Loved the Rose, a biography of the pioneering haiku poet by Donna Bauerly.

 

• November 27: The Haiku Foundation’s Black Friday Gift Shop promo; re:Virals 11.

 

• November 28: Linda Papanicolaou gives a final accounting of Renku Sessions 3: “A Bowl of Cherries”; a new Old Pond Comics cartoon “Goose Neck”.

 

• November 29: THF Reports: “Our Frogpond Journey,” Francine Banwarth and Michele Root-Bernstein’s discussion of their editorship of Frogpond; THF Social Media Day highlights of our social outreach from the Foundation’s social media director Stella Pierides.

 

• November 30: THF Interviews: Gayle Bull; a new Book of the Week: small town by vincent tripi.

 

• December 1: THF Galleries: “Haiga of Stephen Addiss”; the new World of Haiku country for December: Australia.

 

• December 2: “Librarian’s Cache”, selections from the Foundation’s holdings by Digital Librarian Garry Eaton; results from the annual THF assessment survey.

 

• December 3: THF Readings: Tom Clausen; a challenging haiku crypto-quiz from Anita Krumins.

 

• December 4: THF Lectures: Zinovy Vayman on “Humor in Haiku”; re:Virals 12.

 

• December 5: “Touchstone Gardens” around the world, where winners of the Foundation’s prestigious Touchstone Awards have displayed their award stones; a new Old Pond Comics cartoon “Jamming Crabs”.

 

• December 6: THF Lectures: Ruth Yarrow entertains and instructs us in “Haiku with Feathers,” from Haiku North America 2015; a report on the Foundation’s Grant Proposal to the National Endowment for the Arts in 2015.

 

• December 7: The summary report from our THF Fundraiser 2015; a new Book of the Week: jazztronaut by Geert Verbecke.