Modern Endangered Archives Program
2025-2026 Call for Applications
Preliminary Applications due November 17, 2025
The Modern Endangered Archives Program (MEAP) invites applications for its eighth cohort of projects to document, digitize, and make accessible collections at risk from environmental conditions, political uncertainty, inherently unsustainable media, inappropriate storage, or communal and social change. All materials created with MEAP funding will be published on the open access UCLA Digital Library.
- Three Grant Opportunities. Planning Grants for organization, survey, and inventory work; Project Grants for digitization and metadata creation; and Regional Grants to create digital collections that include cultural heritage materials from three or more institutions, families, or archival repositories related to one theme, community or historical event.
- Global Access to Digital Collections. Explore over 100,000 unique digital objects from 26 countries on the UCLA Digital Library. All MEAP funded projects publish digital collections.
What MEAP Funds
The UCLA Library Modern Endangered Archives Program supports the preservation and discovery of at-risk archival collections that invite a more expansive understanding of the world we live in.
MEAP grants fund projects that document, digitize and make accessible cultural heritage materials from the 20th and 21st Centuries. We are committed to supporting projects that reflect community voices, cultural expression, and historical experiences that have been left out of national narratives and archives. Collections must be held and digitization work completed outside North America, UK, and the Europe Union. See full eligibility requirements on our website.
Application
MEAP has a two-stage application process. All applicants are required to submit a Preliminary Application. Select applicants will then be invited to complete a Detailed Application.
All applications must be submitted in English through our Survey Monkey Apply portal. Application details and resources are available on our website. The Application portal will open on September 16, 2025.
Deadline
Preliminary applications are due on Monday, November 17, 2025 (11:59 pm Pacific Time).
Learn more
- Explore the 2025-26 Call for Applications: available in Arabic, English, French, Indonesian, Portuguese, Spanish, Swahili.
- Visit the MEAP website at meap.library.ucla.edu. Find out more about current MEAP projects and explore Applicant Resources, including application templates and a detailed FAQ.
- Register for the live Applicant Webinar on Thursday, October 9, 2025. A recording will be available after the session.
- Explore all MEAP Digital Collections, now featuring over 100,000 objects from 48 collections across 26 countries.
- Join the MEAP mailing list for program updates, stories about grantees, and collection announcements.
The Modern Endangered Archives Program at the UCLA Library is funded by Arcadia, a charitable foundation that works to protect nature, preserve cultural heritage and promote open access to knowledge.