Funding Sources
Laura Bush 21st Century Librarian Program
https://www.imls.gov/grants/available/laura-bush-21st-century-librarian-program
“The Laura Bush 21st Century Librarian Program (LB21) supports developing a diverse workforce of librarians to better meet the changing learning and information needs of the American public by: enhancing the training and professional development of librarians, developing faculty and library leaders, and recruiting and educating the next generation of librarians.” (From the website).
Planning Grants: Up to $50,000
Project Grants: Up to $1,000,000
Research Grants: Up to $500,000
Deadline: February 1, 2018 for FY 2017 Cycle 2 (FY18 dates forthcoming).
Duration: One year for Planning Grants, one to three years for Project and Research Grants.
General eligibility criteria:
* Unit of state or local government or private non-profit tax-exempt organization.
* Located in the United States and its territories.
* One of six types of organizations, including:
* Academic, school, private special, digital, or public library (libraries must be open to the public for research), library agencies and associations, and higher education library/information science degree programs.
Successful projects are those which have
Broad impact: Addresses key needs, high priority gaps, and challenges that face libraries.
Advancement of library theory or practice: A thorough understanding of current library theory and practice.
Strategic collaboration: Partnership for sharing of resources.
National Leadership Grants for Libraries
https://www.imls.gov/grants/available/national-leadership-grants-libraries
“National Leadership Grants for Libraries (NLG-L) support projects that address significant challenges and opportunities facing the library and archives fields and that have the potential to advance theory and practice. Successful proposals will generate results such as new tools, research findings, models, services, practices, or alliances that will be widely used, adapted, scaled, or replicated to extend the benefits of federal investment.” (From the website).
Sparks Grants: Up to $25,000
Planning Grants: Up to $50,000
Project Grants: Up to $2,000,000
Research Grants: Up to $2,000,000
Deadline: February 1, 2018 for FY 2017 Cycle 2 (FY18 dates forthcoming).
Duration: One year for Sparks and Planning Grants, one to three years for Project and Research Grants.
General eligibility criteria:
* Unit of state or local government or private non-profit tax-exempt organization.
* Located in the United States and its territories.
* One of six types of organizations, including:
* Academic, school, private special, digital, or public library (libraries must be open to the public for research), library agencies and associations, and higher education library/information science degree programs.
The National Digital Platform category is focused on the expansion of digital capacity and capabilities of libraries and archives, to provide content and services to all users in the US. Project focus may involve developing new or improving open source digital library tools and addressing digital issues facing libraries.
Knight News Challenge on Libraries
https://knightfoundation.org/challenges/knight-news-challenge
Amount: Variable. 2016 awards $35,000 to $393,249
Deadline: The 2016 challenge is closed.
Eligibility: Libraries, non-profit organization, academic institutions, small for-profit startups, and museums.
Scope: The 2016 applicants must develop a project that answers the question “How might libraries serve 21st century information needs?”
Previous funded projects include: Future-proofing Civic Data, Improve Access to Knowledge and Empower Citizens, ATL Maps, Digging DEEP: A Digital Extension Portal for Community Growth, Can I Fair Use It? Crowdsourcing Fair Use Knowledge, Unlocking Film Libraries Through Discovery and Search
Additional Resources
The Tor Project
https://knightfoundation.org/grants/5574
Amount: $320,000
Though this grant appears to be otherwise defunct, this is a resource that may be useful in the future.