Are there scholarships, grants, or other forms of financial aid available specifically for rare books, manuscripts, and archives education or conferences?

Yes! There are scholarships to attend conferences, library school programs, and travel awards!

Please note: This page is revised every six months. The most recent revision was in July 2020.

Scholarships

RBMS Conference Scholarships

RBMS sponsors scholarships (http://rbms.info/scholarships/) for interested individuals who wish to attend the annual conference (in late June). Applications open in December, and awardees are notified in March.

But, wait. How do I find scholarships?

Awards, Financial Assistance, and More

The Society of American Archivists and the Midwest Archives Conference support several scholarships for graduate study in archives administration, whether as part of an MLS or history degree. The ALA Scholarship Program page lists scholarships, including ones based on merit, diversity, and for paraprofessional library staff. As of October 2019, neither the ALA nor the ACRL sponsor any academic scholarships specifically for Master’s-level rare books and manuscripts concentration.

MLS students who receive scholarships often obtain them through the library school that they attend. To see whether schools that you are considering offer scholarships, check their websites; information on scholarships, financial awards, and fellowships is often found under “Admissions”, “Teaching Opportunities”, “Graduate Assistantships”, or “Financial Aid.” Consult the Admissions Office of the schools you are considering for more information.

Conference-related Awards and Continuing Education

For support to attend conferences and enroll in courses related to rare books, special collections, archives, and manuscripts there are several scholarships available:

• RBMS Conference Scholarships for support to attend the current annual conference
• Rare Book School Scholarships
• Society of American Archivists Travel Awards
• ARL/SAA Mosaic Program.  Promotes diversification of the archives and special collections professional workforce by providing financial support, practical work experience, mentoring, career placement assistance, and leadership development to emerging professionals from historically underrepresented racial and ethnic minority groups.
• ALA Spectrum Scholarship Program.  The Spectrum Scholarship Program actively recruits and provides scholarships to American Indian/Alaska Native, Asian, Black/African American, Hispanic/Latino, Middle Eastern and North African, and/or Native Hawaiian/Other Pacific Islander students to assist them with obtaining a graduate degree and leadership positions within the profession and ALA

Some fellowships that support training in rare books librarianship and archives include:

• Yale Law Library Rare Book Fellowship
• University of Houston Libraries
• University of Notre Dame Libraries: Librarian-In-Residence Program

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