Improving Access to Information Grant for Literacy and Digital Inclusion in Michigan

Library of Michigan is pleased to announce the 2024/2025 Improving Access to Information grant for Literacy and Digital Inclusion.

Donor Name: Library of Michigan

State: Michigan

County: All Counties

Type of Grant: Grant

Deadline: 05/31/2024

Size of the Grant: $10,000 to $100,000

Grant Duration: 1 Year

Details:

This LSTA grant program is designed to provide libraries with the opportunity to expand services for learning and access to information and/or to develop library services that provide all users access to information. The intent is to fund one-year projects that increase access to library collections and information. This grant program is competitive. The Library of Michigan has limited funding and therefore has limited funds to grant to organizations.

Grant Priorities

Improve access to services & information in areas of literacy.
Improve access to services & information in areas of local history or special collections.
Improve access to information for community users with limited online access, e.g., improving equity through digital inclusion.

Applicants may propose a project for any of these three priorities.

LSTA Priorities

Programs or services to individuals of diverse geographic, cultural, and socioeconomic backgrounds;
Programs or services to individuals with disabilities, to individuals with limited functional literacy or information skills; or
Programs or services expanding services for learning and access to information.

Funding Information

For fiscal year 2024, the grant awards will be as follows:

Minimum Grant Award: $5,000
Maximum Grant Award: $25,000

Grant Period

The grant period will be October 2, 2024, to September 30, 2025.

Who may apply?

For purposes of LSTA, the State Library has discretion on the eligibility of applicants. For this Improving Access to Information grant program, eligible applicants are Michigan public and academic libraries and library cooperatives. Vendors or partner institutions are NOT eligible to apply.

To be eligible, a library applicant must:

have one or more paid library staff;
have a regular schedule of library service;
have a dedicated facility for library purposes;
have an annual budget with funds reserved for library materials and services;
have a record of multi-type library cooperation, evidenced by activities such as union listing of holdings, reciprocal borrowing, or interlibrary loan; and,
if a “public library,” be “lawfully established” for purposes of the State Aid to Public Libraries Act and meet all eligibility requirements for receiving state aid, at the time of application and the time of grant award;
if an “academic library,” be currently accredited by the Higher Learning Commission.

Grant Guidelines

Literacy
- They are interested in projects that improve participant or user literacy for a range of literacy topics, such as early literacy, financial literacy, digital literacy, media literacy, English as a second language (ESL), adult literacy, health literacy, etc.
Digital Inclusion
- They are interested in programs or services that increase or improve digital access for users with limited access to the internet and/or knowledge of devices or online resources.
Local history or special collections
- They are interested in projects that engage local communities in the collection, documentation, and preservation of their local histories, experiences, and identities.