The Colorado Department of Education is accepting applications for its State Grants to Libraries.
Donor Name: Colorado Department of Education
State: Colorado
County: All Counties
Type of Grant: Grant
Deadline: 09/15/2025
Size of the Grant: Not Available
Grant Duration: Grant Duration Not Mentioned
Details:
State Grants to Libraries are provided by the Colorado State Library to enable public libraries, school libraries, and academic libraries to obtain educational resources they would otherwise be unable to afford, to the end that the state will receive the corresponding benefits of a better educated and informed population.
Eligible Uses of Funds
- The State Grants to Libraries funding is to be used by the recipient to obtain educational resources that they would otherwise be unable to afford. The purpose of the educational resources is to support efforts to improve literacy and learning, and other education-related needs identified by the grantee.
- Educational resources are defined as any of the following: books, periodicals, or any other form of print media; audiovisual materials; and electronic information resources.
- Electronic Information Resources are defined as material of an education or informational nature that may only be accessed electronically.
Eligibility Criteria
- Academic Library (Universities, Colleges, Community Colleges)
- Must be a publicly supported library. Such libraries are supported with money derived from taxation.
- Will participate in interlibrary sharing of resources at no charge to other Colorado libraries.
- Must have existing local and/or state funding for libraries. The library must maintain its current effort to obtain funds to the end that moneys received under this Act do not replace or displace existing local revenue sources.
- Make no charges to Colorado residents:
- To use an Interlibrary loan service (can pass on fees charged/assessed by other libraries) for primary clientele of the library.
- To access the Internet.
- Academic Libraries must be established and maintained by a state supported institution of higher education primarily for the use of its students and faculty.
- An institution of higher education may maintain more than one library at the same or additional campuses; each such institution shall be considered the equivalent of one eligible participant.
- Will belong to the Colorado Libraries Collaborate (CLC) Program. The program provides free access to library resources for the patrons of all CLC member libraries.
- Public Library
- Must be a library that is established, operated, and maintained in whole or in part with money derived from taxation, and which is for the free use of the public. This includes county libraries, municipal libraries, library districts, and joint libraries as defined in library law (24-90-103)
- Will participate in interlibrary sharing of resources at no charge to other Colorado libraries.
- Must have existing local and/or state funding for libraries. The library must maintain its current effort to obtain funds to the end that moneys received under this Act do not replace or displace existing local revenue sources.
- Makes no charges to Colorado residents:
- To use an Interlibrary loan service (can pass on fees charged/assessed by other libraries) for primary clientele of the library.
- To access the Internet.
- Must be legally established and operate under Colorado Library Law.
- Must meet all of the 13 criteria in the “Definition of a Public Library in Colorado,” outlined in the “Colorado Public Library Standards.”
- Will belong to the Colorado Libraries Collaborate (CLC) Program to provide free access to library resources for the patrons of all CLC member libraries.
- Any publicly supported library that provides electronic devices (computers, hotspots, tablets, e-readers, etc.) for patron access must:
- Equip each device with software that will limit the ability of minors to gain access to material that is obscene or illegal, OR
- Purchase Internet connectivity from an Internet service provider that provides filtering services, OR
- Develop and implement a policy, publicly adopted by the governing body of the library that establishes and enforces measures to restrict minors from obtaining information that is obscene or illegal.
- School Library (K-12)
- Must be a publicly supported school library. Such libraries are supported with money derived from taxation.
- When applicable, participates in interlibrary sharing of resources at no charge to other Colorado libraries.
- Have existing local and/or state funding for libraries. The library must maintain its current effort to obtain funds to the end that moneys received under this Act do not replace or displace existing local revenue sources.
- Make no charges to Colorado residents:
- To use an Interlibrary loan service (can pass on fees charged/assessed by other libraries) for primary clientele of the library.
- To access the Internet.
- School districts are the sole applicant on behalf of all the school libraries in the district. The district may purchase materials for use in all school libraries (e.g., databases) or target funds to specific schools for defined library needs.
- For the purposes of this grant, a School District must have at least one school library, which is defined as a dedicated facility located in and administered by the school that provides at least the following:
- an organized, circulating collection of printed and/or audiovisual and/or computer-based resources, or a combination thereof,
- paid staff to oversee library collection, and
- an established schedule during which services of the staff are available to students and faculty.
- Schools that provide electronic devices (computers, hotspots, tablets, e-readers, etc.) for student access must:
- Equip each device with software that will limit the ability of minors to gain access to material that is obscene or illegal, OR
- Purchase Internet connectivity from an Internet service provider that provides filtering services, OR
- Develop and implement a policy, publicly adopted by the governing body of such library that establishes and enforces measures to restrict minors from obtaining information that is obscene or illegal.
For more information, visit CDE.
