N.C. A&T’s Bluford Library Earns Grants to Advance Cyberinfrastructure, AI Literacy

EAST GREENSBORO, N.C. (Nov. 24, 2025) — F.D. Bluford Library at North Carolina Agricultural and Technical State University has been awarded two significant grants to expand its role in data analysis, cyberinfrastructure (CI) and artificial intelligence (AI) literacy.

The library received a $160,902 grant from the Minority Serving Cyberinfrastructure Consortium (MS-CC) Research Catalyst Program 2025 and a $149,927 grant from the Institute of Museum and Library Services’ Laura Bush 21^st Century Librarian Program. Including its recent grant of $115, 557 from the State Library of North Carolina to launch the Library Data Lab, Bluford has secured $426,386 in sponsored research funding thus far for fiscal year 2025.

The MS-CC grant will fund the project, “Measuring Cyberinfrastructure Effectiveness at North Carolina A&T.” Thomas Patterson, Ph.D., data and visualization librarian and assistant professor, is the project’s principal investigator (PI). He is joined by two co-PIs: Stephen Bollinger, assistant director for library systems and associate professor, and Charlene Jones, assessment and user experience librarian and assistant professor.

Key goals include:

• Conducting a comprehensive user needs assessment involving faculty, IT professionals, campus leadership, and the research office.
• Launching the Aggie Data Lab, a research services department and advanced data lab offering high-powered computing, software, and training.
• Hosting workshops and conferences to build faculty expertise and develop campus-wide CI training programs.
• Creating a scalable, replicable model for CI support at other historically Black colleges and universities (HBCUs) and minority-serving institutions (MSIs).

Graduate students will also benefit, gaining experience in research, data analysis and workshop facilitation.

This grant is a subaward of the National Science Foundation project, “21^st-Century Research-Cyberinfrastructure for MSIs through the MS-CC: A Phased Approach to Engage the Missing Millions.”

“This grant positions Bluford Library as a central hub for research support and innovation,” said Patterson. “We’re excited to develop models that other institutions can replicate.”

The Laura Bush 21^st Century Librarian Program grant supports “The AI Catalyst: Advancing AI Research & Information Literacy in Libraries,” led by Tiffany Russell, associate professor, budget and collections administrator (PI) and Carlos Grooms, research and instruction librarian (co-PI). In collaboration with North Carolina Central University, Winston-Salem State University and the University of North Carolina Greensboro, the project will:

• Train librarians at HBCUs and MSIs to implement Generative AI tools.
• Provide hands-on AI training for library students.
• Develop a peer-reviewed AI Toolkit and journal of practice tailored for HBCU and MSI libraries.
• Launch the AI Catalyst Institute, a national community of practice for librarians exploring AI applications.

“This award provides a transformative opportunity to ensure that HBCU and MSI libraries are more than participants; they are leaders in shaping how artificial intelligence is understood and used in higher education,” said Russell. “Through The AI Catalyst grant, we aim to empower librarians to guide their institutions in using AI responsibly, ethically and creatively — while prioritizing equity, digital literacy, and community involvement. This project highlights the important role libraries play in fostering innovation, building digital confidence, and preparing the next generation of scholars to succeed in an AI-driven world.”

The initiative aims to address skepticism around AI in higher education and promote ethical, informed use of emerging technologies.

“Libraries are the academic epicenter of our institutions of higher learning and continue to evolve as the university teaching and research missions evolve,” said Bluford Dean of Library Services Vicki Coleman, MSIS. “We are thrilled to see our faculty elevate librarianship to the next level through these research efforts and secure the funding to make it happen. I’m excited to see what happens next.”