BHL Transition Update #4: Welcoming CLIR as BHL’s New Fiscal Sponsor

We’re thrilled to share some exciting news:

🎉 The Biodiversity Heritage Library has a new fiscal sponsor – the Council on Library and Information Resources (CLIR)!

This is a major step forward in securing a sustainable future for BHL.

As many of you know, the Smithsonian Institution will conclude its hosting role at the end of 2025. Since this announcement, BHL has been working diligently behind the scenes to establish new homes for its core functions. With CLIR now on board as our fiscal sponsor, the legal and financial infrastructure for BHL are firmly in place. Importantly, Smithsonian Libraries and Archives will continue as a valued BHL Member and active contributor to the consortium beyond the transition.

Let’s be Clear: BHL is still BHL

BHL remains a global consortium of Partners with a shared mission to collaboratively make biodiversity literature openly available to the world. We are governed by our Bylaws and Members Council, with routine operations managed by the Executive Committee, Secretariat and Technical Team. Our committees and working groups remain essential to the development of BHL’s collection and services.

BHL’s logo and branding will not change – we’ve just flown to a new (more autonomous) nest. In combination with our Call for Support, we hope to hatch anew in 2026.

So, what does fiscal sponsorship mean?

A fiscal sponsor is a nonprofit organization that provides legal and financial oversight to a project or initiative, allowing it to operate more flexibly than within a traditional institutional home. In practical terms, this means BHL now has a new administrative and financial base with CLIR, an organization equipped to manage contracts, finances, HR, and grant administration.

With CLIR as our sponsor, BHL can:

• Hire and retain staff, with support for payroll and benefits. BHL staff will remain under BHL direction, with contracts administered by CLIR.
• Receive and manage grants and donations directly, without going through a host institution. CLIR will also provide the tools and compliance structures we need to fundraise effectively.
• Collaborate globally with fewer barriers, thanks to CLIR’s support for cross-border contracting and financial management.
• Focus on mission, not paperwork, while keeping our community-led governance at the heart of everything we do.

Most importantly, this partnership is flexible: BHL retains the option to exit the arrangement in the future if we transition to an independent model. In the meantime, CLIR’s support ensures that BHL can keep moving forward, even as we continue to build long-term solutions for infrastructure and staffing.

We’re deeply grateful to the team at CLIR for helping make this possible – and to you, our community, for your continued support as we take this important step.

Meanwhile, at BHL…

While the transition planning continues in the background, BHL’s core work carries on with its usual energy and enthusiasm. Across the globe, our community of contributors continues to digitize, share, and connect biodiversity knowledge. For a great example of this, check out Catalogue of Life (CoL)’s new BHL dataset, which connects taxonomic names in CoL to their original descriptions in BHL.

In April 2025, the BHL collection surpassed 63 million pages. Between April and July alone, the BHL consortium added 603,586 new pages and 18,386 articles to our online collection, demonstrating our ongoing commitment to expanding access to biodiversity literature.

💚 Thank You for the Love 

Since launching our Call for Support on 11 June, we’ve been overwhelmed by the love and encouragement pouring in from around the world. Thank you to the many organizations and individuals who have amplified our message and shared why BHL matters.

A few recent favorites:

All of us who use BHL need to do all we can to support this vital scientific and cultural treasure, that just keeps getting better and better. It’s vital that this continue.
– @flannerm.bsky.social‬

I use BHL nearly daily. One of those rare resources vital to both scientists and historians… So many books (and articles, and species descriptions) wouldn’t be published without it.
– @wbarlowrobles.bsky.social‬

BHL’s archives serve as an indispensable record of Earth’s biodiversity and represent an invaluable part of our scientific and cultural heritage!
– Savvas Paragkamian, LinkedIn

BHL is my most used online taxonomic resource, and it needs a sustainable host for the future.
– @derekhennen.bsky.social

Call for Support: Still Open

Our official Call for Support remains open until 31 August 2025, and we continue to welcome proposals, ideas, and offers to help shape BHL’s future.

We’re especially looking for:

• Hosting and technical support
• Funding and in-kind contributions
• Staffing partnerships
• Visionary ideas for BHL’s next chapter

📧 Got an idea? Get in touch: TransitionDirector@biodiversitylibrary.org

💚 Love BHL? Help us spread the word and keep the momentum going using the hashtag #ILoveBHL.

We’ll keep posting regular updates as we reach new milestones and confirm future partnerships. Thank you, as always, to our incredible global community for the ideas, energy, and encouragement that are keeping this transition moving forward.

Onward!