The West Virginia Humanities Council announced that two new citizen members have been elected to its program committee. The Humanities Council is the state affiliate of the National Endowment for the Humanities and serves West Virginia through grants and direct programs in the humanities. The newly elected members are Elizabeth Spangler of Lewisburg and Jason Gum of Glenville. Spangler is the past chair of the board of directors of Carnegie Hall in Lewisburg, a Read Aloud volunteer, and a board member of the Greenbrier Historical Society and the Greater Greenbrier Valley Community Foundation. Gum is archivist and reference librarian at the Robert F. Kidd Library at Glenville State College. He has a special interest in the local history of north-central West Virginia.
The new members will serve a three-year term from June 1, 2016, to June 1, 2019. The Humanities Council thanks departing members Larry Springer of Berkeley Springs and Sally Haynes of Summersville for their years of service on the program committee.
The Humanities Council budgets more than $600,000 for grants and programs each year. A variety of grants are offered to nonprofit organizations that support educational programming. The program committee recommends funding decisions to the Humanities Council board of directors. The 22-member committee includes 11 members drawn from the Council board and 11 citizen members who represent education and the general public. For more information about the West Virginia Humanities Council visit www.wvhumanities.org or call 304-346-8500.