The Digital Public Library of America (DPLA) is excited to announce the publication of twenty new Primary Source Sets. These sets explore new topics in US history, literature, arts, world history, and science and technology and provide rich new primary sources from libraries, archives, and museums across the country that are classroom-ready for students and educators alike.

We are thrilled to welcome seven new members to the 2017-2018 DPLA Education Advisory Committee. Together with the ten returning members of the Education Advisory Committee, new members will work in collaboration with DPLA staff to create and deliver curriculum for professional development using DPLA and its resources and expand the primary source sets project.

The Digital Public Library of America is looking for excellent instructors in higher education to join its Education Advisory Committee for 2017-2018. A new grant from the Teagle Foundation funds the creation of a professional development curriculum and new set development for our Primary Source Sets project. We are currently recruiting a small group of enthusiastic educators in higher education to collaborate with our current team of K-12 and higher ed instructors on this project.

The Digital Public Library of America is delighted to announce that it has received a generous $150,000 grant from the Teagle Foundation to extend its work around curated sets of primary source materials for the classroom.

Now that the school year is well underway, we are already hearing great things about how educators and students across the country are putting DPLA and its education resources to use. The Primary Source Sets, in particular, were designed to be versatile and adaptable for a broad variety of classroom environments, lessons, assignments and grade levels, so we wanted to share a few different ideas that demonstrate that versatility in action!

‘Tis Back-to-School season and here at DPLA, we are eager and excited to dive into another year of innovative teaching and learning with a great lineup of new resources to use in your classroom this year.

We are pleased to announce that DPLA will be participating in the second annual Teaching with Primary Sources Unconference and Workshops will be held this summer in Atlanta, Georgia, at the Auburn Avenue Research Library on African American Culture and History of the Atlanta-Fulton Public Library system.

We are thrilled to announce that all of our 100 Primary Source Sets for education are now accessible in PBS LearningMedia, a leading destination for high-quality, trusted digital education resources that inspire students and transform learning.

With DPLAfest 2016 larger than ever, we reached out to a few attendees ahead of the event to help us capture the (many) diverse experiences of fest participants. These ‘special correspondents’ have graciously volunteered to share their personal perspectives on the fest. In this first of two guest posts by our special correspondents, Sara Stephenson, Kerry Dunne, and Emily Pfotenhauer reflect on their fest experiences from the perspectives of their fields and interests: education, ebooks, and the growing DPLA hub network.

Digital Public Library of America (DPLA) is very pleased to announce the release of its third group of Primary Source Sets about topics in US history, literature, and culture, along with new features for navigating our growing project.

Read about DPLA’s partnership with National History Day from the point of view of partners and student winners of the DPLA project prize.

We are very pleased to announce our 2015-2016 Education Advisory Committee. From an extremely qualified pool of over 300 candidates who responded to our Call for Educators Participants, including educators in many fields and institutions across the U.S., we have selected ten outstanding participants.

The Digital Public Library of America (DPLA) is thrilled to be recognized as an American Association of School Librarians (AASL) 2015 Best Apps for Teaching & Learning. Chosen for its embodiment of AASL’s learning standards and support of the school librarian’s role in implementing career and college readiness standards, this is DPLA’s second “Best of” award from the prestigious education-oriented division of the American Library Association. DPLA was recognized as a Best Website for Teaching & Learning in 2013.

The Digital Public Library of America (DPLA) is pleased to announce that it has received $96,000 from the Whiting Foundation to begin creating resources for users in K-12 and higher education. The grant will allow DPLA to develop and share primary source sets built on the foundation of national educational standards and under the guidance of a diverse group of education experts. DPLA will also refine tools for creating user-generated content so that students and teachers can curate their own resources as part of the learning process.

This year DPLA is an official sponsor of National History Day in Missouri. With the excellent assistance of the DPLA staff, teaching guides and materials were prepared sharing DPLA resources related to this year’s theme: Leadership and Legacy in History. Also a prize was created for the student whose work made the best use of DPLA-related resources at the state finals next spring. My simple hope is these young folks will move from searching online, to helping get the history of our state online. Otherwise we may lose much near-history of the Show-Me State or have it hidden to others.

The Digital Public Library of America (DPLA) is pleased to announce that it has received an $81,000 grant from the Mrs. Giles Whiting Foundation to explore educational possibilities for its growing collection. The grant will allow DPLA to convene in-person meetings for educators from a wide variety of institutions, including K-12, community colleges, and research universities, this fall in Boston.

To promote the Digital Public Library of America to graduate students at the University of Delaware, Tracy and I organized a professional development workshop on “Digital Resources for Research and Teaching Using the DPLA as a Case Study” on April 15, 2014. Graduate students who are gaining first-hand experience teaching classes or leading sections are often looking for new ways to engage their students.

Mary Battle, Public Historian at the College of Charleston’s Avery Research Center for African American History and Culture, describes the value of oral histories as a teaching tool and highlights some of her favorites from DPLA.

DPLA Community Rep Lavanda Wagenheim, IB Middle Years Programme Coordinator at the Tuscaloosa Magnet Schools- Middle in Tuscaloosa, Alabama, details a recent outreach activity she organized for instructors in her school district.

Assistant professor of history and community rep Stephanie J. Richmond explains why she decided to join the reps program and how she’s thinking about DPLA’s value for the higher ed classroom.