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Latin America's rich documentary heritage is crucial for those who would understand the region's history and culture. Yet this heritage is at risk. The region can point with pride to a number of well-organized, fully-supported libraries and archives. In too many cases, however, scarce or unique materials are held by repositories that lack the means either to preserve their holdings or to make them fully available to scholars.

The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation has addressed this dilemma through the "Program for Latin American Libraries and Archives," an initiative that was established in 1996 through Harvard University's David Rockefeller Center for Latin American Studies. PLALA's purpose is to strengthen the research base for Latin American Studies by means of small grants to Latin American archives and libraries that need special funding in order to improve the conditions under which their collections are kept or to expand access to their research holdings. Grants are awarded in response to sharply focused formal applications which are judged on a competitive basis. Individual grants average between US$10,000 and $15,000.

In 2010-11, the Center awarded 23 PLALA grants in nine different countries. These grants included a development grant in support of the Centro de Estudios Historicos e Informacion Parque de Espana to establish a state-of-the-art, standards-driven digitization facility for libraries and archives in Argentina and the region.

Eligible Institutions
Eligible Projects
Evaluation Procedure
How to Apply
Past Approved Projects