<div dir="ltr"><span id="gmail-docs-internal-guid-a4646c6e-7fff-1314-e19a-349d45b818d9"><p dir="ltr" style="line-height:1.38;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt"><span style="font-size:12pt;font-family:Montserrat,sans-serif;color:rgb(0,0,0);background-color:transparent;font-variant-numeric:normal;font-variant-east-asian:normal;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap">Dear Colleagues,</span></p><br><p dir="ltr" style="line-height:1.38;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt"><span style="font-size:12pt;font-family:Montserrat,sans-serif;font-weight:700;font-variant-numeric:normal;font-variant-east-asian:normal;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap">After a successful two-year seed funded period, the </span><a href="https://www.softwarepreservationnetwork.org/" style="text-decoration-line:none"><span style="font-size:12pt;font-family:Montserrat,sans-serif;font-weight:700;font-variant-numeric:normal;font-variant-east-asian:normal;text-decoration-line:underline;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap">Software Preservation Network</span></a><span style="font-size:12pt;font-family:Montserrat,sans-serif;font-weight:700;font-variant-numeric:normal;font-variant-east-asian:normal;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap"> (SPN) is now welcoming new members for the year 2021 and beyond.</span><span style="font-size:12pt;font-family:Montserrat,sans-serif;font-variant-numeric:normal;font-variant-east-asian:normal;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap"> By investing $5,000 per year, your organization will join a vibrant community of practice committed to ensuring long-term access to software through community engagement, infrastructure support, and knowledge generation. </span></p><br><p dir="ltr" style="line-height:1.38;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt"><span style="font-size:12pt;font-family:Montserrat,sans-serif;font-variant-numeric:normal;font-variant-east-asian:normal;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap">Since 2016, SPN has united colleagues from design firms, history of computing museums, research data repositories, university libraries, art museums, and the open source software community around critical questions and collaborative solutions to software preservation challenges. </span></p><br><p dir="ltr" style="line-height:1.38;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt"><span style="font-size:12pt;font-family:Montserrat,sans-serif;font-variant-numeric:normal;font-variant-east-asian:normal;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap">In January 2019, </span><a href="https://educopia.org/spn-case-study-apr20/" style="text-decoration-line:none"><span style="font-size:12pt;font-family:Montserrat,sans-serif;font-variant-numeric:normal;font-variant-east-asian:normal;text-decoration-line:underline;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap">SPN launched a two-year seed funded effort</span></a><span style="font-size:12pt;font-family:Montserrat,sans-serif;font-variant-numeric:normal;font-variant-east-asian:normal;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap"> to secure SPN as a sustainable, community-owned organization. Over the last two years, SPN has successfully cultivated a healthy community of practice focused on building field-level capacity for long term access and reuse of software. SPN members design and complete research into evolving practice, </span><a href="https://www.softwarepreservationnetwork.org/projects/" style="text-decoration-line:none"><span style="font-size:12pt;font-family:Montserrat,sans-serif;font-variant-numeric:normal;font-variant-east-asian:normal;text-decoration-line:underline;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap">affiliated projects</span></a><span style="font-size:12pt;font-family:Montserrat,sans-serif;font-variant-numeric:normal;font-variant-east-asian:normal;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap"> and </span><a href="https://www.softwarepreservationnetwork.org/core-activities/" style="text-decoration-line:none"><span style="font-size:12pt;font-family:Montserrat,sans-serif;font-variant-numeric:normal;font-variant-east-asian:normal;text-decoration-line:underline;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap">working groups</span></a><span style="font-size:12pt;font-family:Montserrat,sans-serif;font-variant-numeric:normal;font-variant-east-asian:normal;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap"> identify common needs that allow </span><a href="https://www.softwarepreservationnetwork.org/about/#sustaining" style="text-decoration-line:none"><span style="font-size:12pt;font-family:Montserrat,sans-serif;font-variant-numeric:normal;font-variant-east-asian:normal;text-decoration-line:underline;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap">SPN member organizations</span></a><span style="font-size:12pt;font-family:Montserrat,sans-serif;font-variant-numeric:normal;font-variant-east-asian:normal;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap"> to make strategic digital curation decisions, and the nimble </span><a href="https://www.softwarepreservationnetwork.org/about/#staff" style="text-decoration-line:none"><span style="font-size:12pt;font-family:Montserrat,sans-serif;font-variant-numeric:normal;font-variant-east-asian:normal;text-decoration-line:underline;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap">SPN staff</span></a><span style="font-size:12pt;font-family:Montserrat,sans-serif;font-variant-numeric:normal;font-variant-east-asian:normal;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap"> provides the training and coordination necessary to distribute software preservation skills across a broader set of individuals. </span></p><br><p dir="ltr" style="line-height:1.38;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt"><span style="font-size:12pt;font-family:Montserrat,sans-serif;font-variant-numeric:normal;font-variant-east-asian:normal;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap">As we look to the future, we recognize that the COVID-19 pandemic is presenting unprecedented challenges to organizations and individuals across the information stewardship landscape. The pandemic is also highlighting the critical role that member communities play in organizational resilience and continuing support of the research enterprise. </span></p><br><p dir="ltr" style="line-height:1.38;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt"><span style="font-size:12pt;font-family:Montserrat,sans-serif;font-variant-numeric:normal;font-variant-east-asian:normal;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap">By </span><a href="https://www.softwarepreservationnetwork.org/get-involved/" style="text-decoration-line:none"><span style="font-size:12pt;font-family:Montserrat,sans-serif;font-variant-numeric:normal;font-variant-east-asian:normal;text-decoration-line:underline;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap">investing in SPN</span></a><span style="font-size:12pt;font-family:Montserrat,sans-serif;font-variant-numeric:normal;font-variant-east-asian:normal;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap">, your organization will join a network of software preservation professionals that are distributing the risk and lowering the actual cost of the work for any one organization, while simultaneously sharing ownership over the strategic direction of the field and the use of collective resources.</span></p><br><p dir="ltr" style="line-height:1.38;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt"><span style="font-size:12pt;font-family:Montserrat,sans-serif;font-weight:700;font-variant-numeric:normal;font-variant-east-asian:normal;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap">If you would like an opportunity to ask questions and hear directly from current SPN members and staff, </span><a href="https://www.eventbrite.com/e/spn-virtual-info-session-tickets-117665389347" style="text-decoration-line:none"><span style="font-size:12pt;font-family:Montserrat,sans-serif;font-weight:700;font-variant-numeric:normal;font-variant-east-asian:normal;text-decoration-line:underline;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap">register for our upcoming virtual information session</span></a><span style="font-size:12pt;font-family:Montserrat,sans-serif;font-weight:700;font-variant-numeric:normal;font-variant-east-asian:normal;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap"> on September 17 at 12:00 pm ET. </span></p><br><p dir="ltr" style="line-height:1.38;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt"><span style="font-size:12pt;font-family:Montserrat,sans-serif;font-variant-numeric:normal;font-variant-east-asian:normal;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap">In the meantime</span><span style="font-size:12pt;font-family:Montserrat,sans-serif;font-weight:700;font-variant-numeric:normal;font-variant-east-asian:normal;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap">, </span><span style="font-size:12pt;font-family:Montserrat,sans-serif;font-variant-numeric:normal;font-variant-east-asian:normal;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap">for more information on the Software Preservation Network, check out our </span><a href="https://www.softwarepreservationnetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/07/SPN_GetInvolved_Flyer_Compressed.pdf" style="text-decoration-line:none"><span style="font-size:12pt;font-family:Montserrat,sans-serif;font-variant-numeric:normal;font-variant-east-asian:normal;text-decoration-line:underline;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap">membership flyer</span></a><span style="font-size:12pt;font-family:Montserrat,sans-serif;font-variant-numeric:normal;font-variant-east-asian:normal;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap">, visit our </span><a href="https://www.softwarepreservationnetwork.org/get-involved/" style="text-decoration-line:none"><span style="font-size:12pt;font-family:Montserrat,sans-serif;font-variant-numeric:normal;font-variant-east-asian:normal;text-decoration-line:underline;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap">Get Involved</span></a><span style="font-size:12pt;font-family:Montserrat,sans-serif;font-variant-numeric:normal;font-variant-east-asian:normal;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap"> page, or reach out to SPN’s community facilitator, Jess Farrell, at &lt;</span><a href="mailto:jess.farrell@educopia.org" style="text-decoration-line:none"><span style="font-size:12pt;font-family:Montserrat,sans-serif;font-variant-numeric:normal;font-variant-east-asian:normal;text-decoration-line:underline;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap">jess.farrell@educopia.org</span></a><span style="font-size:12pt;font-family:Montserrat,sans-serif;font-variant-numeric:normal;font-variant-east-asian:normal;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap">&gt;.</span></p><br><p dir="ltr" style="line-height:1.38;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt"><span style="font-size:12pt;font-family:Montserrat,sans-serif;font-variant-numeric:normal;font-variant-east-asian:normal;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap">With many thanks, and best wishes,</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height:1.38;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt"><span style="font-size:12pt;font-family:Montserrat,sans-serif;font-variant-numeric:normal;font-variant-east-asian:normal;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap">Hannah</span></p></span><div><br></div>-- <br><div dir="ltr" class="gmail_signature" data-smartmail="gmail_signature"><div dir="ltr"><font face="Arial, sans-serif"><span style="font-size:16px"><a href="https://educopia.org/staff/hannah-ballard" target="_blank">Hannah Ballard</a></span></font><div><font face="Arial, sans-serif">Director of Communications</font></div><div><font face="Arial, sans-serif"><a href="https://educopia.org/" target="_blank">Educopia Institute</a> </font></div><div><font face="Arial, sans-serif"><a href="mailto:hannah@educopia.org" target="_blank">hannah@educopia.org</a></font></div><div><font face="Arial, sans-serif">Follow us on <a href="https://twitter.com/Educopia" target="_blank">Twitter</a>!</font></div><div><span style="font-family:Arial,sans-serif"><br></span></div><div><span style="font-family:Arial,sans-serif">Working from Lawrence, KS</span><font face="Arial, sans-serif" size="2"><br></font></div><div><span style="font-family:Arial,sans-serif">Pronouns: she/her/hers</span></div><div><br></div><div><font face="Arial, sans-serif" size="2"><img src="https://docs.google.com/uc?export=download&amp;id=1Kxc27ZONWWeEaOtGJIXvrFbvh_9WY6A7&amp;revid=0B8siYsCrdJFmeWYxTUQyMy9OR1g3NysrYWR2cHE4bURWUUprPQ" width="96" height="49">    </font></div></div></div></div>