C&RL News July/August 2018 396

G r a n t s  a n d  A c q u i s i t i o n sAnn-Christe Galloway

Ed. note: Send your grants and acquisitions to Ann-
Christe Galloway, production editor, C&RL News, email: 
agalloway@ala.org.

The University of Arkansas Libraries has been 
awarded a $30,000 grant from the National 
Endowment for the Arts to serve as the 
home for the Arkansas Folk and Traditional 
Arts Program. Working closely with the Ar-
kansas Arts Council, a folk arts coordinator 
will document folk arts traditions from both 
longstanding communities and recent immi-

grant groups in the state. The coordinator 
will also develop special programs, such 
as apprenticeship programs and exhibits, 
that nurture the continued growth of these 
arts and foster a better understanding of 
the creative activities of the state’s diverse 
cultures. The program will dovetail with the 
libraries’ longstanding efforts to generate 
a greater understanding of the state’s folk 
culture through its digitization projects, 
such as those that highlight the fieldwork 
of folklorists Mary Celestia Parler and Vance 
Randolph.  

that students will code-switch in academic 
reading contexts and when reading news. 
For example, the data from the Colombian 
undergraduate student tell us that her code-
switching is in very specific domains, like 
leisurely reading and religious reading, and 
that she has difficulty reading academic 
Spanish. This information is important to 
know for building collections and for sup-
porting students who may want to take their 
academic experiences to their home country 
for an internship, for a job, or for pursuing 
graduate work.”

These last two articles explore a grow-
ing awareness within the profession about 
emerging groups of students with distinc-
tive information needs, perspectives, and 
behaviors. This attention is consistent with 
the ongoing discussions within committees 
of ACRL concerning diversity and inclusion, 
particularly how to be more representative of 
our membership and those we serve. I feel 
strongly that inclusion and broad representa-
tion are critical, not just for the purposes of a 
diverse and robust journal, but also to model 

a just and equitable environment. Previous 
editorials have explored some of these issues, 
but it seems like there is more we can do. 

Certainly, with the submissions that are 
coming into the journal, there are enough 
very compelling topics and rigorously framed 
research studies that there will likely be at 
least one each issue. I have looked at the 
possibility of highlighting these topics through 
a special or topical issue, particularly as there 
have been several submissions that have 
explored topics on underserved populations 
and questions of diversity and equity. Upon 
reflection, I abandoned the idea of a special 
issue—not because there wasn’t enough ma-
terial or because I don’t think that such topics 
should have attention. Rather, I believe that, 
instead of a special issue, there should be 
representation of topics on diversity, equity, 
traditionally marginalized populations, and 
social justice in almost every issue. These 
valuable topics should not be relegated to 
only a single issue: they will be regularly 
incorporated into issues as the articles are 
submitted, reviewed, and accepted. 

(“C&RL Spotlight” continues from page 392)

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