Sandy Enriquez, Special Collections Public Services, Outreach & Community Engagement Librarian, was awarded a highly competitive fellowship from the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation.

The program will only invite 45 fellows over a six-year period, with aims to advance multicultural collections through innovative and inclusive curatorial practice and leadership among fellows who either identify with diverse racial or ethnic communities and/or who work with collections that document minority, immigrant, and non-Western cultural traditions.

"Participating in the Andrew W. Mellon Fellowship for Diversity, Inclusion & Cultural Heritage is a great honor and opportunity for me as an early-career librarian who is from a traditionally underrepresented background,” said Enriquez, who identifies as first-generation Peruvian-American and Quechua. “This program and training will enhance my ability to serve our UCR community while also providing additional support to highlight our multicultural collections. I especially look forward to collaborating across institutions to develop innovative ways to promote community-oriented, inclusive, and meaningful access to special collections and archives."

In June 2019, Rare Book School received a $1.5 million grant from The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation to support the Andrew W. Mellon Fellowship for Diversity, Inclusion & Cultural Heritage.

“Sandy has been successful in receiving a rare and wonderful Fellowship opportunity. This is a competitive process with only a small cohort being accepted,” added Tiffany Moxham, Associate University Librarian for Content and Discovery.