x 3 Grants | UCLA Library Modern Endangered Archives Program (MEAP)

https://static.library.ucla.edu/craftassetsprod/MEAP/MEAP-documents/2026-Call-for-Applications_MEAP_Cohort-9v1.pdf

 
CALL FOR APPLICATIONS (2026-27)
MEAP invites applications for its ninth cohort of projects designed to preserve, document, and digitize collections at risk from environmental conditions, political uncertainty, inherently unsustainable media, inappropriate storage, or communal and social change. All materials created with MEAP funding will be published on the open access UCLA Library Digital Collections repository.

 
All applications must be submitted in English through our online application system available at meap.smapply.io. The online application portal will open on Monday, September 14th and Preliminary Applications are due on Monday, November 16, 2026.

Three Awards Available
PLANNING GRANTS offer up to $20,000 for up to one year of work to evaluate and prepare materials for digitization. Projects should focus on organizing and documenting existing archival materials through assessment, cataloging, survey, or inventory creation. Projects should also investigate and secure rights for future digitization.

PROJECT GRANTS offer up to $70,000 for up to two years of work to digitize and create robust,
object-level metadata for cultural heritage materials. Projects should focus on digitization and
metadata creation for an existing archival or born-digital collection.


REGIONAL GRANTS offer up to $100,000 for up to two years of work to create digital collections that include cultural heritage materials from three or more institutions, families, or archival repositories but relate to one theme, community, or historical event. Projects should focus on digitization and metadata creation that enables findability for materials that are not physically held in one location. (*Only past MEAP grantees are eligible to apply.) Grant funds can be used for staff salaries, equipment, training, travel, and community engagement to support the documentation and digitization of endangered collections. Funds cannot be used for the creation of new materials, including oral histories, documentaries, exhibitions or other recordings. 

APPLICATION CYCLE 2026 -27
MEAP has a two-round application process. All applicants must submit a Preliminary Application through our online application system available at meap.smapply.io. Eligible applicants will be invited to submit a Detailed Application. All applications must be submitted in English.
● Applications open September 14, 2026
● Preliminary Applications due November 16, 2026
● Preliminary Application decisions communicated December 2026
● Detailed Applications (for invited applicants) due February 12, 2027
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● MEAP AV Grants Application opens (likely) April 2027
● MEAP Planning, Project, and Regional Grant Awards announced Summer 2027
● MEAP AV Grant Awards announced Fall 2027

 
Application Details
The UCLA Library Modern Endangered Archives Program supports the preservation and discovery of atrisk archival collections that invite a more expansive understanding of the world we live in. We are committed to supporting projects that reflect community voices, cultural expression, and historical experiences that have been left out of national narratives and archives.

 
ELIGIBILITY
MEAP supports projects to organize, collect, reformat, and describe archival materials, existing digital assets, or born-digital materials. Materials must fit the criteria outlined below.

 
ENDANGERMENT: Archival content must be imminently at-risk due to environmental
conditions, political uncertainty, inherently unsustainable media, inappropriate storage, and/or communal or social change.

 
AGE OF MATERIAL: From the early 20th century to the present, preferably with a majority of the material dating from the 1940s or later.

 
CONTENT: Materials should document aspects of history, society, culture, and politics,
preferably with an emphasis on social justice, human rights, and under-documented
communities.

 
GEOGRAPHIC FOCUS: Collections must be held outside the United States, Canada, the UK, and European Union countries. We encourage applications from Africa, the Caribbean, Central America, Latin America, the Middle East, Central Asia, South and Southeast Asia, and Oceania.

 
FORMAT: We welcome materials in a variety of formats, including print, photographs,
ephemera, and born-digital files.

 
* NEW: All projects focused primarily on audio, film, or video collections should apply for MEAP
AV Grants and will not be considered in this application round.
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OPEN ACCESS REQUIREMENT
MEAP is an Open Access program. All content created with grant funding must be shared openly online
at meap.library.ucla.edu. This includes surveys or inventories for Planning Grants and digital files for
Project and Regional Grants.
Project teams are responsible for securing necessary permissions for Open Access publication.
● Project and Regional Grant applicants must provide evidence of permission for publication at
the Detailed Application phase.
● Planning Grant projects may build in time to explore rights-related questions for future
digitization.
More Information
The 2026-27 Call for Applications is also available in Arabic, French, Indonesian, Portuguese, Spanish,
and Swahili.
Additional details and resources for applicants are available on the How to Apply page at meap.library.ucla.edu. Questions? Ask us at meap@library.ucla.edu.