International Collections Travel Grants now available through KU Libraries

LAWRENCE — A new travel grant program will support the use of KU Libraries International Collections and in-person consultation with librarians, with researchers from across the United States and around the globe encouraged to apply online through March 1, 2026.  

The travel grants provide a maximum of $1,500 per visit, which can be used for airfare, accommodations or other expenses incurred while traveling to KU Libraries locations on the University of Kansas’ Lawrence campus. With the goal of fostering global scholarship and providing access to KU’s expansive collection of materials dedicated to global, international and area studies, the awards are open to faculty, undergraduates, graduate students or independent researchers living outside a 100-mile radius from Lawrence.  

For decades, KU Libraries’ subject specialists have partnered with KU language departments and area studies programs to assemble diverse and unique materials — more than 1.5 million volumes — from all over the world in support of research and learning at KU. Regions of strengths of KU Libraries International Collections include: Africa and the African Diaspora; East Asia; Central, Eastern and Southern Europe; Russia; Spain, Portugal, Latin American and the Caribbean; and The Middle Eastern, South Asia and the Globalization. 

The addition of this travel award coincides with the libraries’ development of the Institute for Globally Engaged Librarianship (IGEL). Beginning in spring 2025, KU Libraries began formalizing its approach to internationalization through the creation of the institute, building programs and relationships with the goal of strengthening connections among librarians worldwide. 

KU Libraries recently joined the International Association of University Libraries (IATUL), a global organization dedicated to advancing academic and research library services worldwide, with Dean Carol Smith representing the university at IATUL’s annual conference in Shanghai, China, this fall. 

"We, as libraries, are strategic partners across the entire institution — it's a unique vantage point,” Smith said. “IGEL is an opportunity to fully leverage the incredible strengths that we have and contribute to university goals, but also to be an exemplar for the best of what libraries can be and do.” 

Learn more about IGEL and the travel awards online.