21 Association of Research Libraries Research Library Issues 300 2020 focused on the UM Libraries’ newly discovered, recently acquired, archival blueprints for the Oversea Extension of Henry Flagler’s Florida East Coast Railway connecting Miami to the Florida Keys. This initiative prompted a series of online articles7 and a new publication.8 Senior lecturer in English Judy Hood worked closely with a range of Special Collections and Conservation professionals at the libraries to preserve these invaluable plans, whose significance extends far beyond our region. She also conducted extensive scholarly research, which culminated in her publication of Attic Treasure: Flagler’s Dream Train. CREATE’s metrics to date speak to its significance and impact. Between its June 2017 launch and today, the program has funded 22 separate projects spearheaded by 23 faculty members drawn from 6 distinct University of Miami colleges or schools and 13 separate departments.9 In addition, nearly 300 UM students have been directly involved in CREATE-funded projects, while countless others have been indirect beneficiaries. A further 500 individuals, drawn from our campus and community, have also enjoyed CREATE-sponsored public programs and performances. Overall, CREATE has been an effective vehicle for elevating UMLLAM’s collections, for stimulating faculty development and innovation, and for promoting deep intra- institutional collaboration, the focus of the 2016 inaugural summit. Regarded in its entirety, CREATE has proven to be a relatively low- cost, extremely high-impact initiative. It has not been without its challenges, however. Perhaps the most significant trial was determining how best to manage workflows and, relatedly, how to equitably distribute labor amongst UMLLAM’s already busy team members. Effectively promoting the program to the university community was another obstacle, as were the sheer mechanics of grant submissions and reviews. Overly ambitious faculty proposals that did not reflect programmatic or budgetary realities posed another set of difficulties, as did the management of cost-sharing across two units with separate financial management offices. None of these issues proved prohibitive, however, and all were eventually resolved.
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