VCU Libraries enjoyed many program enhancements and learning and growth opportunities from external funding sources. “This support extends our resources, adding some sparkle on top of the great work VCU Libraries undertakes in support of our students, staff, faculty and community,” stated Irene Herold, dean of libraries and university librarian.

• VCU Libraries received a $24,585.00 grant from the Council on Library and Information Resources (CLIR) to support the preservation of and provide access to the Films of Richmond Police Department (RPD) Surveillance Records (1961-1973). These 156 films include footage Black Panther Party meetings and activities in the 1960s; anti-draft, anti-war, and anti-busing protests; student protests at local universities; marches including the Poor People's Campaign, Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Memorial and the trial of H. Rap Brown. The award was part of CLIR’s “Recordings at Risk” program, which is made possible by funding from the Mellon Foundation. These films will provide new avenues for research about and understanding of the Civil Rights Movement in the South. More
• The Mellon Foundation awarded $65,000 to fund new directions for the Social Welfare History Project that will deepen its scholarship and connections to libraries’ Special Collections and Archives materials. Specifically, the one-year project will include processing a “hidden” collection, the Jean Lokerson papers, focused on policy and program development for people with learning disabilities. This work was completed in 2023-24 fiscal year and set the stage for a website redesign for 2024-25.
• Three library faculty were selected through a competitive application process to attend the Summit for Academic Institutional Readiness in Data Sharing (STAIRS) sponsored by Data Curation Network and funded through National Institutes of Health. A grant covered their travel expenses. The STAIRS summit is designed to bring together data service providers, institutional repository (IR) managers, data curation professionals and other key stakeholders from across universities who support managing and sharing research data. The summit strengthens communities of practice for research data services and repositories in academic libraries by identifying common areas of need and exploring ways to strengthen connections between institutions. 
• Support from VIVA, the Virginia consortium of academic libraries, continued. VCU was again selected to participate in the VIVA Curriculum Driven Acquisitions (CDA) program. This program supports ebook purchases that are perpetual access, unlimited usage, and free to VCU users. Through this collective buying effort, VCU students had free access to 72 new adoptions and 82 previous adoptions. The program benefited 3,956 VCU students for a total cost avoidance of $185,102 this year. By contrast, VIVA spent just under $9,000 on new titles for VCU this year; for every dollar VIVA spent on VCU titles, each student user saved over $20.
• The Workshop received an equipment award from Maker Literacies, an initiative of the University of Texas-Arlington Libraries The $2,000 grant purchased a 3D printer, a resin printer and an air quality monitor. In addition to the equipment, Eric Johnson–Head, Creative Technologies and Scholarship–received funding through a competitive application process to attend a Maker Literacies Immersion program.
• The VCU Foundation provided $5,000 to support the StudyWell initiative, a program series that supports student holistic wellbeing and wellness.
• Events supported in part by external funding included the Creative Inquiries program (VCU Foundation); the Social Justice Lecture (Work and Think, LLC); The Black History Month Lecture (The Francis Foster Fund); VCU Cabell First Novelist Awards (Cabell Associates); The Levis Poetry Prize Reading (Friends of VCU Libraries).