When the Library Company of Philadelphia launched the Biennial Innovation Award, we weren’t sure what to expect. Innovation means many things to many people, and our call for proposals was capacious by design. Thankfully, our learning community accepted the challenge and submitted a dazzling array of projects that surprised, impressed, and inspired our internal and external review committees.

Among the dozens of submissions, we received applications from early-career and distinguished faculty, undergraduate and graduate students, visual and performing artists, and even peers at cultural heritage institutions. We learned about new databases developed to advance the study of African American literature, diaspora, and the Trans-Atlantic slave trade; games designed to teach students about early American poetry and print culture; and digital humanities projects that made congregational records accessible, city directories mappable, and raised-print pages 3-D printable. Applicants demonstrated the power of humanistic scholarship that entwines the critical and creative, from an Eastern State Penitentiary climber’s guide to a history textbook developed by an academic cooperative.

To accommodate the extraordinary breadth of submissions, the Library Company will recognize the recipient(s) of the award as well as two honorable mentions.