APSU’s Woodward Library receives nearly $100K in federal funding to support digital archives

By: Corina Ravenscraft August 25, 2026

The Felix G. Woodward Library at Austin Peay State University. | Photo by Ally Shemwell

CLARKSVILLE, Tenn. — Austin Peay State University’s Felix G. Woodward Library recently received a $99,999 Community-Centered Implementation Grant from the Institute of Museum & Library Services (IMLS) National Leadership Grants for Libraries program, one of the nation’s leading sources of federal support for library and archival services.

This funding will support a two-year initiative to preserve, digitize, and enhance access to thousands of historically and culturally significant items connected to Austin Peay, Middle Tennessee, and Fort Campbell, Kentucky. It also positions the university to pursue additional opportunities with IMLS and strengthen its community partnerships.

“This is a huge achievement for the library and the university that has been over three years in the making,” said interim library director Christina Chester-Fangman. “The grant will enable the UASC (University Archives and Special Collections) to purchase much-needed equipment and materials to improve our preservation, digitization, and community outreach efforts. In working on our project, A Center for Archives, Research, & Education (CARE), we envision establishing a partnership between our archives and the community to preserve, protect, curate, showcase, and grow our Special Collections to share beyond the campus.”

The grant will address several pressing preservation and access needs for rare materials. UASC Assistant Stephanie Klaus said key items to be purchased with grant funds include:

• A frost-free freezer and preservation kits for cold storage of negatives, giving staff more time to digitize them

• Wall-mount screens to safeguard paintings and artwork

• A guillotine trimmer and archival-quality boards for creating custom enclosures for fragile or damaged rare books

While the priority is to save and curate APSU’s unique materials, the library hopes the CARE project will have a ripple effect in the area, encouraging the development of additional local history collections.

CARE may also leave a lasting impact in higher education, as IMLS’s grant programs are designed to identify projects that can support other institutions. The goal is to create a sustainable, replicable model at APSU that helps regional universities leverage their archives as resources for community collection preservation, education, and engagement.