LSU Libraries’ Sarah Simms, Undergraduate and Student Success Librarian, and Hayley Johnson, Head of Government Information at Nicholls State University, recently received the ALA Carnegie-Whitney Grant and the NewsBank/ Readex/ GODORT/ ALA Catharine J. Reynolds Award.

Both grants will fund the project “Through an Extended Lens: Louisiana, Internment, and the Geography of Chance,” an interactive online research guide that will focus on Japanese-American internment during World War II. Simms and Johnson plan to follow the stories of two families: the Koharas and Miyamotos, who experienced World War II in drastically different ways. The project will also highlight the role of Camp Livingston in Louisiana as an internment site. “This proposed research guide demonstrates the power and knowledge contained within cultural institutions as champions of social justice and memory,” says Simms.

The Carnegie-Whitney Grant awards funding for the development of popular or scholarly reading lists, webliographies, and other projects to stimulate the use of library resources. Each year, approximately ten projects are selected to receive the grant. The NewsBank/ Readex/ GODORT/ Catharine J. Reynolds Award provides funding for research in the field of documents librarianship or related fields. Approximately one to three grants are awarded each year. "

Simms and Johnson, former colleagues at Nicholls State University, anticipate completing “Through an Extended Lens” by April 2019. The two will be recognized at the GODORT Awards Ceremony at ALA's annual conference in June 2017.