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Compass Award

Internship Description

The Compass Award supports a project-based internship and provides both financial and professional support to new and early-career colleagues in the arts information field. The award is open to individuals who identify as racialized and/or Black, Indigenous, Person of Color (BIPOC). The internship will broaden the participant’s perspectives and experience within the field of art, architecture, special collections, and museum libraries and archives. While eligibility does not require a degree in an arts-related field, the internship experience must focus on information in the arts.

The award will support the completion of a project-based internship as proposed by the applicant. The project may be research-oriented or fall in the scope of a creative endeavor and may be conducted in-person, virtually, or hybrid. The proposed project will be carried out under the guidance of a supervisor who is expected to advise the awardee and help establish a network of support, ideally within their local ARLIS/NA chapter. The internship will entail a minimum of 100 hours of work to see a project through to completion. Responsibilities for the project-based internship experience, including its scope, distribution of hours, and final product, will be developed by the awardee in collaboration with the supervisor and/or the supporting institution.

The $3000 cash award also includes a one-year membership to ARLIS/NA, an ARLIS/NA chapter membership, and subsidized registration for the annual ARLIS/NA conference. ARLIS/NA also encourages applicants to apply for conference travel awards available through their local ARLIS/NA chapters.

Application and Deadlines

The open call for applications will be released each year in September, with a deadline in October. The award recipient shall be selected by early/mid November. The awardee must accept the award within two weeks of being notified of their selection, and the internship must be carried out in the following calendar year.

The deadline for submission of the letter from the intern and supervisor indicating completion of the internship will be within 30 days of completing the internship.

Evaluation

The committee will evaluate the applications based on eligibility and an established criteria for evaluation, including:

  • thoughtfulness, thoroughness, and clarity of the goals/objectives of the project
  • impact of the project/experience on the applicant’s career in art librarianship
  • the feasibility of the proposed project, timeline, and progress points

How to Apply

On or before October 15 (11:59pm Eastern Standard Time), please prepare the following documents to apply for the 2025-2026 Compass Award. All documents should be submitted as a single, multi-page PDF document to compass@arlisna.org. Please organize and merge your documents so they are in the order listed below:

Required Documents:

  1. A Statement of Eligibility and Purpose (500-600 words maximum), that shares how you self-identify as a member of a racialized group or BIPOC, your status as an graduate student or early career information specialist (within three years of graduation), as well as your proposed project, project goals/objectives, how you envision the internship will impact your career. Please also include your internship institution and supervisor for your project, as well as a short timeline or plan indicating the desired dates of the internship and expected progress points.
    Please address your letter to The ARLIS/NA Compass Award Subcommittee.
    • Examples of deliverables or outcomes that you may wish to explore in your project
      • Skills (e.g., cataloging, instruction, data visualization)
      • Relationship-building events or programs (e.g., community outreach or community engagement)
      • Conference poster or presentation (e.g., ARLIS/NA conference) 
      • Research for an article (e.g., Art Documentation)
      • LibGuides
      • Zine creation or alternative forms of publishing
      • Exhibition (physical or digital) 

  2. A 1-2 page resume or CV outlining your education, related work experience, and skills

  3. An unofficial transcript or letter from your University’s Registrar confirming your attendance/graduation from an ALA-accredited information studies program or equivalent.

***Please note that ARLIS/NA cannot support work visas. Therefore, an in-person internship must be completed at an institution situated within the applicant's country of residence, or applicants can propose a project that can be conducted virtually.


Optional Documents: A brief letter of support from your project-based internship supervisor. 

Contact Information

Please contact compass@arlisna.org for any questions or assistance about the Compass Award.