BHL Funding


The Biodiversity Heritage Library (BHL) is funded in large part by BHL Member Dues and by individual donations. Members and Affiliates have also received generous support from their parent institutions to enable significant contributions in the form of staffing and other in-kind costs. The following grants have also been awarded to BHL Partners:

  • The Richard Lounsbery Foundation | Smithsonian Libraries: Metadata Merging, 2006-2007 | $50,000
  • The Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation | Missouri Botanical Garden: BHL Fedora / CiteBank, 2007 | $1,096,655
  • John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation | Smithsonian Institution: Biodiversity Heritage Library as the literature component of the Encyclopedia of Life, 2007-2013 | $3,057,900
  • Institute of Museum and Library Services (IMLS) | Ernst Mayr Library, Harvard Museum of Comparative Zoology: Digitizing Special Collections, 2008 | $40,000
  • Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation | Missouri Botanical Garden: BHL Global, 2009 | $460,000
  • eContent Plus | Museum für Naturkunde Berlin: BHL Europe, 2009-2012 | $4,368,000
  • Council on Library and Information Resources (CLIR) | Smithsonian Institution: Field Book Project, 2009-2013 | $498,239
  • Institute of Museum and Library Services (IMLS) | California Academy of Sciences Library: Connecting Content, 2010-2013 | $428,753
  • Australia’s National Research Infrastructure for Australia (NCRIS) | Atlas of Living Australia: BHL Australia, 2010 | $675,000
  • JRS Biodiversity Foundation | Field Museum of Natural History Library: BHL Africa, 2011-2012 | $50,000
  • National Science Foundation (NSF) | Missouri Botanical Garden: Global Names Project, 2011 – 2014 | $295,000
  • The Richard Lounsbery Foundation | Smithsonian Libraries: Life & Literature, 2011-2012 | $89,171
  • National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH) | Missouri Botanical Garden: Art of Life, 2012-2015 | $260,000
  • Institute of Museum and Library Services (IMLS) | Missouri Botanical Garden: Purposeful Gaming, 2013-2015 | $449,641
  • Institute of Museum and Library Services (IMLS) | Missouri Botanical Garden: Mining Biodiversity, 2014- 2016 | $175,000
  • JRS Biodiversity Foundation | South African National Biodiversity Institute: BHL Africa, 2014-2017 | $150,000
  • Institute of Museum and Library Services (IMLS) | LuEsther T. Mertz Library, New York Botanical Garden: Expanding Access to Biodiversity Literature, 2015-2017 | $846,457
  • Arcadia – a charitable fund of Lisbet Rausing and Peter Baldwin | Smithsonian Libraries: Smithsonian Field Book Project, 2015-2018 | $511,200
  • Council on Library and Information Resources (CLIR) | Smithsonian Libraries: BHL Field Notes Project, 2016-2018 | $491,713
  • Institute of Museum and Library Services (IMLS) | Harvard Museum of Comparative Zoology: Foundations to Actions: National Digital Stewardship Residency, 2016-2017 | $443,141
  • R. K. Mellon Family Foundation | Smithsonian Institution: Biodiversity Heritage Library Metadata Enhancement, 2022 | $25,000

In addition, institutional support in the form of direct contributions have included:

  • Atherton Seidell Endowment Fund (Smithsonian Institution)
  • Smithsonian Women’s Committee

The original funding for BHL came via the Encyclopedia of Life to Smithsonian Libraries through a grant from the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation (2007-2013).

Significant support has been received from the following individuals, organizations, and corporations:

  • Mr. Roland A. DeSilva
  • Mrs. Sue J. Henry
  • American Entomological Society, Inc.
  • Anonymous Donors
    • $50,000 (2020)

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