In 2001, Janice R. Franklin and Loretta O'Brien Parham attended a meeting of the Southeastern Library Network (SOLINET) Board of Directors, an ordinary enough event. Observing the support that the Association of Southeastern Research Libraries provides its members, they realized there was no such mutual assistance program for the librarians at historically black colleges and universities (HBCU). They also discovered that the library directors of the 103 HBCUs had never even met. Franklin, director of the library at Alabama State University, Montgomery, and Parham, director of the Harvey Library at Hampton University, VA, resolved to do something. They approached Kate Nevins, SOLINET's executive director, who agreed to provide funding and support. She also helped secure additional funding from the Council on Library Resources and the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation. Franklin and Parham co-chaired the first meeting of the HBCU library directors in October 2002. Parham led off the meeting with a rousing speech. Franklin followed with a paper that outlined opportunities for collaboration, topics for working group discussions held over the next two days. The result was an agreement to create the HBCU Library Alliance, which would preserve the history and culture of each institution and community, build human resources, advocate for the value of the libraries' collections and archives, and promote collaboration and sharing.