Alexandria, VA, July 17, 2025—The Council on Library and Information Resources (CLIR) has been awarded $3,000,000 by the Mellon Foundation to continue its regranting program to digitize “at-risk” audio and audiovisual materials. The program will launch two competitions in fall 2025 and 2026, awarding funds for digital reformatting projects to take place in 2026-2028. Canadian nonprofit organizations will be eligible to apply for the first time in the history of this program.
The Recordings at Risk regranting program funds the preservation of rare and unique audio and audiovisual content on degrading or obsolete time-based media such as magnetic tape, wax cylinders, wire recordings, or early film (with or without sound). The competition is open to nonprofit academic, research, and cultural heritage organizations based in the United States or Canada.
Since the program’s 2016 inception, Recordings at Risk has awarded nearly $6 million over eleven grant cycles for 190 reformatting projects. A twelfth cohort of awardees is scheduled to be announced later this summer.
“Recordings at Risk exemplifies CLIR’s commitment to preserving the cultural record in all its complexity,” said Charles Henry, President of CLIR. “By supporting the reformatting of rare and at-risk media, we are not only extending the life of fragile recordings, we are expanding access to knowledge, memory, and creativity that might otherwise be lost. With this new phase, we are especially pleased to welcome Canadian institutions into the program, further strengthening the collaborative preservation of our shared audiovisual heritage across borders. We’re deeply grateful to the Mellon Foundation for their continued partnership in this essential work.”
“Expanding Recordings at Risk to include Canadian institutions is an exciting and important development,” said Guy Berthiaume, Chair of CLIR’s Board of Directors and Librarian and Archivist of Canada Emeritus. “This cross-border collaboration recognizes the shared responsibility we have to preserve our audio and audiovisual heritage. I’m proud to see CLIR extend its support to Canadian organizations working to protect and provide access to recordings that document our diverse histories and cultures.”
CLIR will open its next application period in November 2025, and an additional call for proposals will be issued in fall 2026. Awards will range from $10,000 to $60,000 USD and will cover direct costs of preservation reformatting for audio and audiovisual time-based media by eligible organizations working with experienced external service providers. To make their determinations, CLIR’s independent review panel will assess the potential scholarly or public impact of proposed projects, the urgency of undertaking those projects, the viability of applicants’ plans for long-term preservation, and the overall cost-effectiveness of the proposals.
For more information on the program, visit https://www.clir.org/recordings-at-risk/.
The Council on Library and Information Resources is an independent, nonprofit organization that forges strategies to enhance research, teaching, and learning environments in collaboration with libraries, cultural institutions, and communities of higher learning.
The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation is the nation’s largest supporter of the arts and humanities. Since 1969, the Foundation has been guided by its core belief that the humanities and arts are essential to human understanding. The Foundation believes that the arts and humanities are where we express our complex humanity, and that everyone deserves the beauty and empowerment that can be found there. Through our grants, we seek to build just communities enriched by meaning and guided by critical thinking, where ideas and imagination can thrive. Learn more at mellon.org.
For media inquiries, please contact Lizzi Albert, Community Relations Manager, at lalbert@clir.org.
