Children’s Book Project Grant Now Open

 Thanks to WVLS' Kristie Hauer for the tip found at their Youth Information Exchange Facebook page !

The Pilcrow Foundation supports rural public library communities through its Children’s Book Project. The foundation provides a 2-to-1 match for libraries that contribute $200-$400. This means that if a library is awarded a grant, it qualifies to receive up to $1,200 worth of new, quality, hardcover children’s books. Libraries must be in a rural area within the 50 United States, have an active children’s department, and raise $200-$400 through a local sponsor. Libraries can apply for the grant twice a year, with deadlines on April 1 and October 1.

For complete details, please stop here.

Free Rural Library Summit

The Rural Library Summit is a half-day celebration of the impact rural libraries have on the aspirations of young people. 

We invite you to register for the Rural Library Summit, a half-day celebration of libraries' contributions to third grade reading outcomes and their impact on the aspirations of young people especially in rural communities.

Research has shown that children who read on or above grade level in third grade triple their chances of attending college. The Summit will explore how libraries can grow their impact on third grade reading by leveraging community support and resources.

Participants will learn about and connect with a range of opportunities with regional and national organizations, including the newly launched Rural Library Fellowship. The fellowship will support the efforts of 22 Fellows to engage in initiatives to increase third grade reading in their communities.

Learn more here. You can register here for this free summit.

*All Summit participants will be entered into a raffle to win $1,000 to purchase books for their library—five lucky winners will be awarded!*

If you have questions, contact Katie Basham at bashamk@berea.edu.

The Rural Library Summit is a joint initiative of Partners for Education at Berea College and Save the Children. This project was made possible in part by the Institute of Museum and Library Services.

SUMMIT AGENDA

Opening -The opening keynote for the Summit will be Kekla Magoon, author of books for young readers, including The Season of Styx Malone, The Rock and the River, How It Went Down and the Robyn Hoodlum Adventure series. She will address the important role libraries play in connecting students to current events, civil rights and civic engagement. Kekla has received an NAACP Image Award, the Boston Globe-Horn Book Award, the John Steptoe New Talent Award, three Coretta Scott King Honors and been long listed for the National Book Award.

Opportunity Sessions- Participants will be able to select and participate in multiple Opportunity sessions, where they can learn about and connect with a range of opportunities with regional and national organizations, including the newly launched Rural Library Fellowship.

Closing - The Summit will close with an address by Hasan Davis, a “hope dealer” who blends art and advocacy to strengthen organizations and systems that support youth. Both his art and advocacy are rooted in his personal experience: as young black man he looked for images of heroic African Americans in the American Story only to discover they had been cut out. Today, Hasan uses his gifts as an attorney, researcher, writer and performing artist to bring the stories of America’s black heroes to life. In his address, Hasan will discuss how sharing stories like that of York, the only African American on the Lewis and Clark expedition, can play a transformative role in America’s quest for unity and social justice.

Guide to Implementing Play Streets in Rural Communities

Play Streets -- place-based interventions that involve temporarily closing streets to create safe places and free opportunities for physical activity --are a great way to engage youth and families, get people active, and promote community connections. The Guide to Implementing Play Streets in Rural Communities provides guidance and recommendations to community groups, schools, faith-based institutions, or other organizations, on how to plan and put on a Play Street in rural communities based on first-hand experience from community partners in rural Maryland, North Carolina, Oklahoma, and Texas. 

To download the free 40 page guide from Baylor University and its partners, please stop at this link.

Children's Books for Rural Libraries - Grant Opportunity

The Libri Foundation is currently accepting applications for its final round of 2008 BOOKS FOR CHILDREN grants. The deadline is Aug. 15th.

The Libri Foundation is a nationwide non-profit organization which donates new, quality, hardcover children's books to small, rural public libraries throughout the United States. Since October 1990, the Foundation has donated over $3,500,000 worth of new children's books to more than 2,300 libraries in 48 states, including Alaska and Hawaii.

In order to encourage and reward local support of libraries, The Libri Foundation will match any amount of money raised by your local sponsors from $50 to $350 on a 2-to-1 ratio. Thus, a library can receive up to $1,050 worth of new children's books. After a library receives a grant, local sponsors (such as formal or informal Friends groups, civic or social organizations, local businesses, etc.) have four months, or longer if necessary, to raise their matching funds.

The librarian of each participating library selects the books her library will receive from a booklist provided by the Foundation. The 700-plus fiction and nonfiction titles on the booklist reflect the very best of children's literature published primarily in the last three years. These titles, which are for children ages 12 and under, are award-winners or have received starred reviews in library, literary, or education journals. The booklist also includes a selection of classic
children's titles.

Libraries are qualified on an individual basis. In general, county libraries should serve a population under 16,000 and town libraries should serve a population under 10,000 (usually under 5,000). Libraries should be in a rural area, have a limited operating budget, and an active children's department.

Please note: Rural is usually considered to be at least 30 miles from a city with a population ove 40,000. Town libraries with total operating budgets over $150,000 and county libraries with total operating budgets over $350,000 are rarely given grants.

Applications are accepted from independent libraries as well as libraries which are part of a county, regional, or cooperative library system.

A school library may apply only if it also serves as the public library (i.e. it is open to the everyone in the community, has some summer hours, and there is no public library in town).

A branch library may apply if the community it is in meets the definition of rural. If the branch library receives its funding from its parent institution, then the parent institution's total operating budget, not just the branch library's total operating budget, must meet the budget guidelines.

Previous BOOKS FOR CHILDREN grant recipients are eligible to apply for another grant three years after the receipt of their last grant. Libraries that do not fulfill all grant requirements, including the final report, may not apply for another grant.

Application guidelines and forms may be downloaded from the Foundation's website at: www.librifoundation.org.

For more information about The Libri Foundation or its Books for Children program, please contact Ms. Barbara J. McKillip, President, The Libri Foundation, PO Box 10246, Eugene, OR 97440. 541-747-9655 (phone); 541-747-4348 (fax); libri@librifoundation.org (email). Normal office hours are: Monday-Friday, 10 a.m. to 4 p.m., Pacific Time.