Library Seeks Applicants for 2023 Junior Fellows Program

Library Seeks Applicants for 2023 Junior Fellows Program

The Library of Congress is seeking applicants for its Junior Fellows Program, a summer internship held from May 22, 2023, to July 28, 2023. This 10-week, full-time paid internship is open to undergraduate and graduate students interested in learning and conducting research using the resources of the world’s largest library. Remote and onsite project opportunities are available. The deadline to apply is Monday, Nov. 28, 2022. 

The program will host 50 Junior Fellows working on 29 projects across the Library. Junior Fellows will work with Library mentors on a diverse range of projects, including cultural, scientific and digital work that enhance access and engagement with Library collections.  

The program is supported by an investment from the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation. Of the People: Widening the Path is a multiyear initiative to connect more deeply with Black, Hispanic, Indigenous and communities of color by expanding collections, using technology to enable storytelling, and offering more internship and fellowship opportunities. The initiative creates new opportunities for the public to engage with the Library, thus allowing the Library to share a more inclusive American story.

Remote Projects

1. 911 Services in Rural and Remote Regions, Congressional Research Service/Resources, Science, & Industry Division: In this project, the Junior Fellow will have the opportunity to develop key research and writing skills, examine models of 911 services in remote and rural regions and document challenges that these regions face in providing 911 services.
2. Adding Diversity to the Business History Record, Science Technology and Business Division: In this project, the Junior Fellow will research and write “This Month in Business History” pages on historically underrepresented groups that influenced the U.S. business environment.
3. Archive of Public Broadcasting Online Exhibit Curation, National Audio-Visual Conservation Center: In this project, the Junior Fellow will explore and make discoverable the work of digital preservation within the American Archive of Public Broadcasting representing our nation’s diverse cultural heritage.
4. Archiving the National Book Festival, Office of the Librarian/Signature Programs Office: In this project, the Junior Fellow will provide an opportunity to learn and contribute to the inner workings of planning a major festival featuring both in-person and virtual components to expand the event’s impact for the public via podcasts, Story Maps and blog posts.
5. Cine Latine: Shaping Latino Representation at the Movies, Latin American Caribbean and European Division: In this project, the Junior Fellow will develop a Latino film research guide for the Latin American, Caribbean and European Division.
6. Connecting Communities: If We Tweet, Will They Come? Office of the Chief Information Officer/IT Design & Development Directorate/Design Division: In this project, the Junior Fellow will support efforts to make grants to higher education institutions, libraries, archives, museums and artists/scholars-in-residence to create projects that remix and reuse the Library’s digital collections in creative and imaginative ways.
7. Copyright Card Catalog Metadata Capture Project, U.S. Copyright Office/Office of Copyright Records: In this project, the Junior Fellow will research U.S. Copyright Office historical records, work with metadata and contribute to the online discoverability of materials covering the nation’s cultural creativity.
8. Culturally Relevant Pedagogy with LC Digital Collections, Office of the Librarian/Professional Learning and Outreach Initiatives Office: In this project, the Junior Fellow will create teaching materials that are suitable for use by K–12 educators who wish to expand their instruction to include recognition of diverse communities. These materials will highlight items from digitized Library collections.
9. Effective User Research at the Library of Congress, Office of the Chief Information Officer/IT Design & Development Directorate/Design Division: In this project, the Junior Fellow will research ways that user-centered design (emphasizing diverse audiences) can improve access to digital products and build a framework for applying user research throughout the Library.
10. Enhancing Discovery of Cataloged Event Videos, Digital Collections Management & Services Division: In this project, the Junior Fellow will enhance the discoverability of event videos of Library-hosted programming, such as lectures, concerts and symposia.
11. National Book Festival: Literary Programming, Office of the Librarian/Literary Initiatives Office: In this project, the Junior Fellow will support signature literary programs at the Library of Congress and develop additional public programming and projects.
12. Quality Assurance and Testing Using the Scaled Agile Framework, Office of the Chief Information Officer/IT Design & Development Directorate/Design Division: In this project, the Junior Fellow will work with the User Experience Design Team and the Quality Assurance Team to develop an understanding of current business workflows, proposed workflows and process analysis in support of the Library’s modernization efforts.
13. Researching the 19^th and Early 20^th Century Black Press, Serial and Government Publications Division: In this project, the Junior Fellow will conduct research, write essays and increase discoverability of African-American newspaper titles available in the Chronicling America Historic American Newspapers database under the National Digital Newspaper Program.
14. The Legacy of Daniel A.P. Murray: Mapping the Stories, Office of the Librarian/Office of Communications: In this project, the Junior Fellow will research and present the history of Daniel A.P. Murray and his historical relevance to the Library’s efforts to tell the stories of African-American contributions to the nation’s legacy via a story map and Display Day project.
15. Year of Keyboard Accessibility, Office of the Chief Information Officer/IT Design & Development Directorate/Design Division: In this project, the Junior Fellow will research the history, trends and progress of accessibility to create resources and activities in support of the “Year of Keyboard Accessibility.”

Onsite Projects

1. Access for Newly Acquired Armenian-American Materials, Asian and Middle Eastern Division: In this project, the Junior Fellow will assist with processing the gift of 1,962 monographs and serials that were published in Armenia and in the Armenian diaspora to enhance online access and discoverability.
2. Artists and Archives, Rare Book and Special Collections Division: In this project, the Junior Fellow will research artist websites and materials from the Rare Book and Special Collections Division and to build the public’s understanding of the cultural record of American artistic practice over the past two centuries.
3. Digital Preservation: American Archive of Public Broadcasting, National Audio-Visual Conservation Center: In this project, the Junior Fellow will research and present materials documenting American political, social, and cultural history and creativity produced by American public television and radio focusing on underrepresented local news and cultural programming.
4. Elizabeth Brown Pryor Internship, Manuscript Reading Room, Manuscript Division: In this project, the Junior Fellow will help researchers access the Manuscript Division's collections by responding to reference inquiries received in person and electronically.  The Junior Fellow will analyze, investigate and provide timely responses to reference requests and will create guides that enhance discoverability that reflect the diversity of history, culture and people represented in the Manuscript Division holdings.
5. Engaging Families at the Library of Congress, Office of the Librarian/Informal Learning Office: In this project, the Junior Fellow will explore interests in museum education and informal learning environments, experience working with primary sources, and classwork or experience in education using the vast collections of the Library of Congress.
6. Enhancing Visibility: 19th Century American Music Manuscripts, Music Division: In this project, the Junior Fellow will document the Music Division’s unparalleled collection of music manuscripts and make them discoverable worldwide, increasing their visibility and discoverability for users across the nation and around the globe.
7. Inventory Review Protocols for International Collection Materials, Preservation Services Division: In this project, the Junior Fellow will interview or shadow subject matter experts, staff and contractors to develop quality assurance metrics for inventory and increase discoverability of material in Japanese, Korean, Arabic and Cyrillic scripted languages and English.
8. Inventory of South Asian Language Serial Titles, Asian Division: In this project, the Junior Fellow will enhance the discoverability and accessibility of the Asian Division’s South Asian serials titles in Bengali, Hindi, Gujarati, Marathi, Punjabi, Tamil, Telugu, Urdu and other South Asian languages.
9. Local History of U.S. Immigrant Communities, 1880-1924, Researcher & Reference Services Division: In this project, the Junior Fellow will conduct in-depth research on three to five specific immigrant communities and create a corresponding digital reference resource.
10. Martha Graham Legacy Project 2023, Music Division: In this project, the Junior Fellow will research and make discoverable materials from the McGehee-Umaña Papers spotlighting the Martha Graham Company, New York’s first multi-racial dance company.
11. Mary Wolfskill Internship, Manuscript Reading Room, Manuscript Division: In this project, the Junior Fellow will help researchers access the Manuscript Division's collections by responding to reference inquiries received in person and electronically. The Junior Fellow will analyze, investigate and provide timely responses to reference requests and will create guides that enhance discoverability that reflect the diversity of history, culture and people represented in the Manuscript Division holdings.
12. Paul Marvin Rudolph Architectural Archive, Prints and Photographs Division: In this project, the Junior Fellow will enhance the description of photographs and drawings in the archive of globally-renowned architect Paul M. Rudolph (1918–1997) to help bring diverse perspectives into the ongoing conversations about Rudolph’s building design.
13. Science and Business Pamphlet Collection, Science, Technology and Business Division: In this project, the Junior Fellow will organize and evaluate business and science material, analyze content and develop a formal processing plan to increase the discoverability of overlooked but more broadly representative cultural records.
14. Universal Music Group Collection Lacquer Processing, National Audio-Visual Conservation Center: In this project, the Junior Fellow will connect the public to the history of sound recording technologies and enrich their understanding of music industry developments by creating metadata for unprocessed audio and manuscript items in the Universal Music Group Collection.

Potential applicants should visit www.loc.gov/juniorfellows for full project descriptions and a list of required skills and knowledge for each project. Questions about the program and projects may be sent to juniorfellows@loc.gov. 

The Junior Fellows Program, a signature initiative of the Library of Congress since 1991, is made possible by a gift from the late James Madison Council member Nancy Glanville Jewell through the Glanville Family Foundation and the Knowledge Navigators Trust Fund and by an investment from the Mellon Foundation.

The Library of Congress is an equal-opportunity employer. Women, minorities and persons with disabilities who meet eligibility requirements are strongly encouraged to apply.

The Library of Congress is the world’s largest library, offering access to the creative record of the United States — and extensive materials from around the world — both on-site and online. It is the main research arm of the U.S. Congress and the home of the U.S. Copyright Office. Explore collections, reference services and other programs and plan a visit at loc.gov; access the official site for U.S. federal legislative information at congress.gov; and register creative works of authorship at copyright.gov.

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Media Contact: Deanna McCray-James, (202) 707-9322, demc@loc.gov

PR 22-091
11-02-2022
ISSN 0731-3527