Category: Grant Opportunities    

If your library is looking for a small grant to assist in funding minor renovations, try this one. Deadline is Oct. 1, so get busy!

You will need your municipality to support and write parts of the application. Please see these attachments for the details and ask your district consultant if you have questions or ideas:
-KEYSTONE APP Packet
-Keystone Application E – Form_8_9_2010
-PHMC Clearance Application1

Please use the links below to access LSTA grant application documents:
Main 2011 LSTA page: http://pa.webjunction.org/pa-2011lsta

Digitization Grant Application Guidelines : http://pa.webjunction.org/pa-2011lstadigitization

K-12 Collection Development Grant Application Guidelines : http://pa.webjunction.org/pa-2011lstak12collectiondev

Major Innovation Grant Application Guidelines : http://pa.webjunction.org/pa-2011lstamajorinnovation

Mini (Try It) Innovation Grant Application Guidelines: http://pa.webjunction.org/pa-lsta2011tryit

Public Library Collection Development Grant Application Guidelines : http://pa.webjunction.org/pa-2011lstapublibcollectiondev

Technology Component Grant Application Guidelines : http://pa.webjunction.org/pa-2011lstatech

LSTA 2011 Grant Program Timeline : http://pa.webjunction.org/pa-lsta2011timeline

LSTA Five Year Plan: http://pa.webjunction.org/pa-5yearplanlsta

Reminder: If you plan to consider an LSTA grant, please notify the district consultant with a request for a letter of support and the justification for what you are applying for and what the outcomes of the project will be. This is an opportunity to apply for some funding for the thing you always wanted to be able to do to help your community. If you need any assistance or extra help to get your project to succeed, just ask and the district will do what it can with available resources. Take action on that great idea today.

Now is the time to apply for fall programming! Please be aware of a special opportunity. The Pennsylvania Humanities Council offers free arts and cultures presentations through the Commonwealth Speakers program, and our Speakers’ topics range from African Dance to the Civil War to fictional sleuth Nancy Drew. All Pennsylvania libraries can apply to have a free Speaker come to their community this fall.

The Commonwealth Speakers catalog and application are available on our website at http://www.pahumanities.org/resources/speakers.php. Applications must be submitted at least 8 weeks prior to the event date. If you have any questions about the program take a look at their website or contact
Emilie B. Haertsch
Program Associate – Commonwealth Speakers
Pennsylvania Humanities Council

BOS is getting ready to begin purchasing items with its LSTA grant for Technology materials. Read all about it here: http://pa-cumberlandcountylibraries.civicplus.com/index.aspx?NID=1075 and fill out BOS’s survey to recommend the most valuable technology books to purchase with these grant funds.

Check out the Foundation Center resources housed at the Dauphin County Library System’s largest library ESA.

Online, you can search a database for examples of possible areas of collaboration. Consider how streamlining the work your organization does by combining forces with other libraries and non-profits could help to expand the impact and make the outcomes of your work more visible in the community. Collaboration Ideas.

Use the search to find examples of other non-profits who have joined together in a collaboration to:
-Purchase goods and /or services together
-Share (co-locate) or better utilize space
-Combine marketing efforts
-Share development (fundraising) activities
-Share advocacy efforts
-Form a confederation
-Merge
-Share staffing
-Share staff training

How could your library apply to win the next Collaboration Prize?

Official guidelines for LSTA Grants for 2011 have not yet been established, but to prepare you for input into the LSTA competitive grant program, the following is a list of grant applications that Office of Commonwealth Libraries plans to offer to public libraries for 2011 projects:
* Digitization with an emphasis on materials that can be used for K-16 education
* Collection Development for Consumer Health materials
* Technology components. A 75% match would be required.
* Major Innovation grants for up to $50,000 that would be exemplary on a broad level
* Mini (new to you) Innovation for grants up to $5,000

Application guidelines are available right here: http://www.education.state.pa.us/portal/server.pt/community/library_services___technology_act/8738

Please inform your district consultant if you intend to apply for any of these opportunities.

The Youth Allocation Panal applications are due by 4:00 pm on Tuesday, March 16th. Instructions can be found at:
Grant app instructions 10
Print and complete the application attached to apply:
Grant application 10

Pennsylvania’s public libraries serve as information hubs in the community, providing free and equal access to all their services, including the computer centers. Residents as well as non-residents are free to use the internet without charge and the libraries and services are accessible to those with disabilities. Public libraries also make their facilities open to other non-profits and government agencies. Often a community’s only welcoming public space open in the evenings and weekends, libraries’ only restrictions on use would be due to space needs or the limited number of computers available. Many libraries have no more room for immobile workstations. Providing wireless and laptops would allow libraries to offer more computer time/access and meet demand. Patrons could access Internet resources anywhere in the library.

You are urged to consider applying to install or expand Wi-Fi in your library through the special stimulus initiative that is in effect for libraries. (An application may be made for computers, equipment, shelving, furniture, even bookmobiles and renovations and construction). Wi-Fi is suggested as it offers an opportunity to expand access. With the Wi-Fi application, you may want to consider laptops, a charging cart, a separate server perhaps, installation costs and other equipment that would complement Wi-Fi. If you already have Wi-Fi, consider expanding or updating your laptops etc.

For this program:
• Your library must be in a location with a population of 20,000 or less. (This is NOT like CDBG where service population is considered; only your facility’s location is considered for the population).
• You do not need to have a building project.
• Grants are possible based on the median household income; loans are available for those above the limit.
• Please Read the attached Library flyer Fact Sheet-Library flyer

This special initiative is on top of a current program* being run by the US Department of Agriculture. The program aims to provide educational opportunities and improve public services in rural communities.

Your first step would be to contact the USDA regional office in your location- Contact_Us.htm.
It is to your benefit to do this as quickly as possible. Do not delay. Your application should be in no later than April.

Do Not Hesitate to Apply—especially if you are in an area with a low median household income and could receive a grant!

The second funding round for the Broadband stimlus program has been announced for the Department of Commerce’s National Telecommunciations Information Administration (NTIA) and the Deaprtment of Agriculture’s Rural Utilities Service (RUS) broadband programs. The main Broadband page is:index.htm

Facts about the program can be found at:BTOP_NOFAII_FACTSHEET_100115.pdf

Workshop locations can be found at:workshop.htm

The ALA Public Programs Office and the National Endowment for the Humanities are pleased to announce a new grant opportunity for public libraries that received the NEH’s Picturing America collection of American artwork. Grants of $2,000 will be distributed to 30 public libraries to support public programs that highlight the Picturing America collection. Applications will be accepted though March 31 at: picturingamerica

To be eligible, the proposed program or program series must feature humanities content and include use of the Picturing America collection. All programs must take place July 1, 2010 – January 31, 2011 and be open to public audiences. Some examples of eligible programs include: scholarly lectures, panel discussions, reading and discussion series, film viewing and discussion, poetry programs and exhibits. In June 2010, the National Endowment for the Humanities will announce the 30 libraries selected to receive the programming grants. Libraries can find programming ideas and the online application at: picturingamerica

Picturing America, an initiative of the National Endowment for the Humanities, has provided masterpieces of American art to more than 50,000 classrooms and libraries nationwide. Through the program, students and citizens gain a deeper appreciation of our country’s history and character through the study and understanding of its art. For more information about Picturing America visit:picturingamerica.neh.gov

The American Library Association (ALA) received a $750,000 two year grant from the Dollar General Literacy Foundation to continue “The American Dream Starts @ your library”. This new round of funding will help 70 public libraries in Dollar General communities expand their literacy services for adult English language learners.

To be eligible, the applicant institution must be a public library or a public library with a bookmobile providing literacy services for adult English language learners, and must be within 20 miles of a Dollar General Store, distribution center, or corporate office. Each funded library will receive a onetime $5,000 grant.

Applications for funding are being accepted online through Sunday, February 28, 2010. Selected applicants will be notified in April, 2010.

To learn more about the American Dream Starts @ your library, the mini grants and to apply online, please visit: www.americandreamtoolkit.org

USDA Rural Development Housing and Community Facilities Programs

Community Programs provides grants to assist in the development of essential community facilities in rural areas and towns of up to 20,000 in population. Grants are authorized on a graduated scale. Applicants located in small communities with low populations and low incomes will receive a higher percentage of grants.

Grants are available to public entities such as municipalities, counties, and special-purpose districts, as well as non-profit corporations and tribal governments.

The link below provides information for application:

brief_cp_grant.htm

Pennsylvania Humanities Council (PHC) is currently accepting applications from non-profit organizations, ranging from libraries to historical societies to museums, interested in hosting a Humanities on the Road television taping at their site. Twelve sites will be selected for 2010 and another 12 for 2011. The application postmark deadline is Monday, November 23, 2009.

Non-profit organizations that have long been preserving and promoting Pennyslvania’s rich cultural heritage can look forward to an exciting new opportunity to showcase their organization to millions of television viewers. Beginning in 2010, PHC will join forces with the Pennsylvania Cable Network to produce Humanities on the Road, a new television series that will bring public humanities presentations to cultural sites throughout the state.

The project, hosted by award-winning journalist Tracey Matisak, will feature talent from PHC’s Commonwealth Speakers’ bureau. The show will also shine a spotlight on the participating cultural site, as it engages the audience in a discussion of arts, history, literature and the important ideas that shape our world. The humanities presentations—and the hosting non-profits—will be broadcast to more than 3.3 million households across Pennsylvania.

For more information on the project or to download a copy of the application, visit hotr-guide.pdf

The American Library Association Publishing Committee Carnegie-Whitney Awards provide a grant of up to $5,000 for the preparation of print or electronic reading lists, indexes or other guides to library resources that promote reading or the use of library resources at any type of library.

Funded projects have ranged from popular, general-reader proposals such as “ReadMOre,” a reading list for Missouri’s state-wide reading program, to more specialized, scholarly proposals such as “Librarianship and Information Science in the Islamic World, 1966-1999: An Annotated Bibliography.”

Applications must be received by Nov. 6, 2009. Recipients will be notified by the end of February 2010.

For more information and guidelines, visit carnegiewhitney.cfm or contact Mary Jo Bolduc, Grant Administrator, American Library Association, 50 E. Huron Street, Chicago, IL 60611; Fax (312) 280-5275; e-mail: mbolduc@ala.org.

The Office of Commonwealth Libraries is accepting applications from public libraries to establish family place community centers for early childhood information, parent education, socialization, emergent literacy, and family support. Family Place is a concept that expands the traditional role of public libraries into community centers for early childhood information, parent education, socialization, emergent literacy, and family support.

The information and application for these grants are attached below.
An original and one copy of the completed application, with any attachments and enclosures, must arrive at the Office of Commonwealth Libraries on or before November 4, 2009. Please use Word to fill in the application. You may expand the space provided for each answer, if needed.

All applicants must complete and submit the Internet Safety Certification for Applicant Public Libraries that is attached to the application.

FAMILY PLACE APPLICATION 2010

Family Place Application Cover 2010

Internet safety document

The Pennsylvania Library Association (PaLA) is pleased to announce the availability of scholarships to attend the annual Pennsylvania Library Association Conference. The conference will be held this year the conference will be held in Harrisburg from Saturday, October 17th through Wednesday, October 21st. The conference will take place at the Hilton Harrisburg.

There are conference grants that are sponsored by the Brodart Company, Boyd Mills Press and an anonymous donor. The Brodart Company is offering grants to attend the conference for support staff either for a day at the conference or for the full duration of the conference. There are two grants available from the Boyd Mills Press for Youth Services librarians to attend the conference who are first time attendees. There is also an anonymous Youth Services Grant available for a youth services librarian to attend to conference.

Scholarship information and applications can be viewed and completed online at the following link:displaycommon.cfm?an=1&subarticlenbr=196

You must be a member of the Pennsylvania Library Association to apply for these grant opportunities. The deadline for the application submission is Thursday, September 10th.

The Pennsylvania Humanities Council invites non-profits to apply for Large Grants (requests up to $20,000) for public programs in the humanities. PHC is particularly interested in programs that explore the American experience and find innovative ways to connect with new audiences. The deadline for completed intent-to-apply forms is July 1, 2009.

Humanities Grants engage audiences in collaborative learning through public programs that involve humanities experts and feature a strong discussion component.

Intent-to-apply forms receive a very rigorous review. Large Grants are highly competitive and everyone who applies will not be funded. Organizations with the vision and capacity to bring an understanding of the humanities to new and diverse audiences have the strongest chances of receiving funds.

Organizations that wish to apply for a Large Grant should submit an intent-to-apply form by July 1st. (The deadline for eligible applicants is September 2.) Visitwww.pahumanities.org to review our “Frequently Asked Questions” section or to download the current guidelines and application. If you have questions, contact PHC at: grants@pahumanities.org

Best Buy Community Grants Program

These grants are available to support programs and services that provide opportunities for young teens related to education, life skills, leadership skills or relationship development.

The average amount of the grants range from $5,000-$7,000 with the maximum being $10,000.

The deadline for application is June 15, 2009

Much more information is available at:
local_donations_rfp.htm

Apply for Read About It! — a free book discussion series of the Pennsylvania Humanities Council for public libraries. Through informal discussions with an expert discussion leader, Read About It! features five programs that appeal to popular interests in literature: American Life Stories, Books on Screen, Detecting Women, Facts in Fiction: the Civil War Era and Pennsylvania Writers. Please scroll to the bottom of this message to access the online application.

How Your Library Can Benefit From Read About It!?

Read About It! exposes readers across Pennsylvania to the reading and discussion of literature. The programs are free and open to the public. In addition, your participants will receive their own copy of the featured books. Participants also get the opportunity to discuss literature with an expert humanities scholar.

Access the guidelines and application on-line at link below and visit our Frequently Asked Questions section for help with common questions. To request a hard copy, please contact Read About It! Coordinator Jennifer Miller at jmiller@pahumanities.org. Deadline for applications is May 15, 2009.

read.php

Check out what ALA has to say about the stimulus package and it’s impact for libraries:
Link to ALA’s information
What can our libraries do?