INTERVIEW WITH DR. CLAUDETTE S. McLINN Dr. Claudette S. McLinn is Founder and Executive Director of the Center for the Study of Multicultural Children’s Literature (CSMCL). Since 2011, Dr. McLinn created the CSMCL Día Grant with an African American Focus, which is funded by CSMCL in partnership with the ALA/Association of Library Services to Children (ALSC) and author Pat Mora, the founder of Children’s Day, Book Day/ El día de los niños, El día de los libros; often known as Día. Día is celebrated every year on April 30. Here, we will ask her a few questions about this grant. 1. What brought about this grant in 2011? I became interested in Día because of the concept of family, children, and literacy. I love that families and children share literacy activities together in any library, school, or public setting. Thinking that it would be a good idea, I wanted to…
Tag: Grants
Talk Story: Sharing Stories, Sharing Culture Grant
Each year the American Indian Library Association and Asian/Pacific American Librarians Association team up to offer a total of 4 grants worth $750 each to encourage libraries, schools, and community organizations who serve Asian American, Pacific Islander American, and/or American Indian children and families to conduct intergenerational programs to celebrate the cultural heritage of their communities.
You Still Can’t Beat Free!
You Can’t Beat Free I can’t remember the first time I said “you can’t beat free” as a librarian — I think it was 2003. 17 years later, it’s still true. And public librarians – gosh – we can squeeze a nickle sideways, am I right? Well, if you’re done squeezing blood from a nickle, try FREE on for size! The Secret of My Success The secret of my success has been my ability to not just grant write, brainstorm and work with some amazing teams. More often than not, it’s my ability to locate free stuff. Lots of times, the free stuff snowballs into something mega, or just plain comes in handy. Many of my colleagues wonder how I’ve done it. It’s not that I fall backwards into free things for libraries. Oh contraire. Sorry, it’s a lot of work. Step One? “Oh, good!”, I hear you say. It’s…
The Virginia Hamilton Conference Creative Outreach Grants
The Virginia Hamilton Conference on Multicultural Literature for Youth celebrates its 35th anniversary on April 30th at Kent State University. The Conference is the longest running event in the country that focuses exclusively on multicultural literature for children and young adults. Besides offering workshops on a myriad of topics, the Conference offers several awards, including the Virginia Hamilton and Arnold Adoff Creative Outreach Grants for Teachers and Librarians. The application deadline is February 28th, and you or a colleague may be eligible. Each year, two $1000 grants are awarded—one to a K-12 teacher and another to a school or public librarian. According to the Conference website, criteria for a proposal includes a program that: Promotes awareness of multicultural themes and issues through outstanding literature; Illustrates the use of exemplary multicultural literature, particularly but not exclusively the works of Virginia Hamilton; Demonstrates effective organization, methods and/or library service; Includes a plan…
ALSC Professional Awards season is here!
We recently completed a 2019 Membership Needs Assessment survey and it was surprising to learn over 95% of ALSC members have not applied for any of the available Professional Awards, Grants or Scholarships *insert my sad face*. Here are some reasons why I thought ALSC members might be hesitant in applying: There is an application process along with requirements and criteria that should be met for each of these opportunities. This could be intimidating or time consuming, but I promise our amazing ALSC staff and selection committee members are here to help answer all of your questions! It could also be possible that ALSC members just do not know these opportunities exist! If you did not know they existed, I’m here to tell you that they do! *insert my happy face* ALSC awards over $100,000 in the form of awards, grants and scholarships every year and I have listed them…
Summertime Kids Means Summertime Fun
Though 4th of July has come and gone, summer reading is still in full swing. A critical part of our summer reading initiatives is our outreach programming to provide resources to youth unable to visit the library. One of our most successful outreach programs is our involvement with Summertime Kids. The Friends of the Cumberland County Public Library, Inc. recently received a $10,000.00 Summertime Kids Grant through Cumberland Community Foundation, Inc. to provide books and book bags to youth involved in Summertime Kids camps. Summertime Kids camps provide summer resources and experiences to youth from underserved communities, and public library staff partner with camp sites to provide books and book bags to participants. During Summertime Kids programming, youth services staff encourage campers to develop their skills in choosing reading materials as participants select two books they take home to begin or add to their home libraries. Children and teens also…
No Summer Break When Planning School Partnerships
It may be tempting to focus on partnerships with the school system just during the traditional school year; however, planning partnerships year round can help ensure planning is collaborative and programs are maximized. For Cumberland County Public Library and Information Center in North Carolina, we have several projects in the planning stages that will serve as opportunities for collaboration between the school system and the public library during the next year. Cumberland County Coding Camps Cumberland County Public Library & Information Center partnered with Cumberland County Schools and Workforce Development Board to provide free coding camps to underserved youth in the community to strengthen skills in digital literacy. These week long summer day camps are housed in low income neighborhoods in community recreation centers. Participants gain skills through daily coding sessions on topics of interest to them. Youth gain insight from area speakers sharing details of their military and technology…
Summer Reading Program Grants, STEAM Grants, and more!
ALSC members! Take advantage of these grant opportunities that are still available for you to apply for. Also, enjoy the look of our new Professional Awards logo! Louise Seaman Bechtel Fellowship The Louise Seaman Bechtel Fellowship provides a $4,000 grant to a qualified children’s librarian to spend a total of four weeks or more reading and studying at the Baldwin Library of Historical Children’s Literature of the George A. Smathers Libraries, Universityof Florida, Gainesville. The Baldwin Library contains a special collection of 130,000 volumes of children’s literature published mostly before 1950. The fellowship is endowed in memory of Louise Seaman Bechtel and Ruth M. Baldwin. Applications for this close November 8th! Baker & Taylor Summer Reading Program Grant The ALSC Summer Reading Program Grant is designed to encourage reading programs for children in public libraries by providing $3,000 in financial assistance, while recognizing ALSC members for outstanding program development. Applications for this close November…