NEH Preservation Grants for Smaller Institutions

Deadline: May 1, 2013
The National Endowment for the Humanities' (NEH) Preservation Assistance Grants help small and mid-sized institutions, such as libraries, historical societies, and archival repositories, improve their ability to preserve and care for their significant humanities collections. These may include special collections of books and journals, archives and manuscripts, prints and photographs, moving images, sound recordings, architectural and cartographic records, decorative and fine art objects, textiles, archaeological and ethnographic artifacts, furniture, historical objects, and digital materials.

Applicants must draw on the knowledge of consultants whose preservation skills and experience are related to the types of collections and the nature of the activities that are the focus of their projects. Small and mid-sized institutions that have never received an NEH grant are especially encouraged to apply; over the course of the last five years, approximately 36% of applications have been funded. 

A free webinar will be held on Thursday, March 14, 2013, 2-3PM (Eastern) to provide guidance on preparing Preservation Assistance Grant applications. Seating is limited. Register online for free. 

For additional information and grant application materials, go this website. 

The deadline to submit applications is for projects beginning January 2014.

RGK Foundation: Education, Community, and Medicine/Health Grants

The RGK Foundation supports nonprofit organizations that provide services in the areas of Community, Education and Medicine/Health.

Specific areas of focus include:

• children and family services
• early childhood development
• parenting education
• after-school educational enrichment programs
• promotion of the health and well-being of children
• programs that promote access to health services.

Grants range from $10,000 to $25,000. The grant guidelines invite organizations to submit electronic letters of inquiry that are formally reviewed on a rolling basis. After review, organizations may be invited to submit a formal proposal. Past grants. FAQ.

Letters of Inquiry due dates are March 1, 2013 | June 14, 2013 |September 20, 2013.

State Farm Youth Advisory Board

The State Farm Youth Advisory Board is currently funding service-learning projects between $25,000 and $100,000 that address the root cause of the issue areas below. Service-learning is defined as the integrating of meaningful community service back into real classroom curriculum, and it’s a method that has been proven effective to increase student engagement and impact student achievement.
 

Worth checking out, with a robust FAQ and Help page. Maximum: $100,000; Deadline: May 3, 2013.  

2013 Issue Areas

Access to Higher Education/Closing the Achievement Gap: Every 26 seconds, a child drops out of school. By developing innovative strategies for empowering students to care about and take control of their education, our grantees hope to reduce and eliminate this crisis. To learn more about this issue area, please visit our projects area.

Financial Literacy (and Economic Inclusion): The need for a greater understanding of finance is clearer than ever in light of the ongoing financial crisis. Equipping students with the skills they need to be successful and informed about their current and future finances is the vision of our financial literacy grantees. To learn more about this issue area, please visit our projects area.

Community Safety and Natural Disaster Preparedness: The issues of community safety have received unprecedented attention in the wake of school shootings such as at Sandy Hook Elementary and Virginia Tech and hurricanes such as Katrina and Sandy. As these diverse yet equally exigent disasters unfold, the State Farm Youth Advisory Board recognizes the importance of keeping our communities safe from natural disasters, social issues, and acts of violence.

Social Health & Wellness Issues: Nutritional imbalances across the country, the high rates of obesity among both children and adults, the increasing prevalence of mental illnesses, and the growing rate of sexual transmitted diseases and sexual assault, demonstrate the significance of health and wellness issues in all communities. The State Farm Youth Advisory Board encourages projects within Health and Wellness that address, focus on threats or challenges to, and promote mental, physical, and sexual health.

Environmental Responsibility: From global climate change and environmental education to wildlife conservation and land preservation, our grantees create and implement powerful service-learning projects that improve both our local and global environment. To learn more about this issue area, please visit our projects area.

Quinnipiac U hosts Freedom of Information event March 27

QU is hosting "Everyday Exposés: How to Use the Connecticut Freedom of Information Act to Uncover Information in your Community," at 6 p.m. on Wednesday, March 27, in the Rocky Top Student Center on the York Hill Campus.

The free event is co-sponsored by the New England First Amendment Coalition, Connecticut Foundation for Open Government, Connecticut Library Association, Connecticut Society of Professional Journalists, and the League of Women Voters of Connecticut. Learn more

The panel discussion will be moderated by Lynne DeLucia, editor of the Connecticut Health Investigative Team. Panelists include:

• Beau Berman, investigative reporter, WTIC TV
• Bill Cummings, investigative reporter, Hearst CT newspapers
• Matt Kauffman, investigative reporter, Hartford Courant
• Jill Konopka, reporter, WFSB

Light refreshments will be provided. Free parking is available on the York Hill Campus, 305 Sherman Ave. in Hamden.

Youth Football Fund Grassroots Program

Yes, I realize how ridiculous it seems to put this on a blog devoted to libraries.

But I can't help thinking to myself, "How many times has the librarian sat in a big meeting and The Coach or Athletic Director says, 'You get me a football field and I'll pack your library study hall every day!' or something like that."

Probably never, but there's no harm in putting this out there. Just knowing it exists is interesting.

This funding address the shortage of clean, safe, and accessible football fields in low- and moderate-income neighborhoods by providing financial and technical assistance to nonprofit neighborhood-based organizations working to improve local football fields. 

Multiples grants ranging from $50,000 up to $200,000 are available to select applicants. Nonprofit organizations, middle, and high schools serving low- and moderate-income neighborhoods are eligible to apply. Deadline: March 15, 2013        

Youth Football Grassroots Program    

 

Pushing the Limits science grants from CALIFA for rural and small libraries

Deadline: April 1, 2013. Straightforward online application. Requires science partner (think: school, academic).

Pushing the Limits is a 'Reading, Viewing, and Discussion Series for Rural Libraries' that extends the building blocks of science literacy to rural librarians and adults in the communities they serve. 

The CALIFA Group seeks 75 rural libraries to join a nationwide grant project funded by the National Science Foundation. The goal is to strengthen adult science programming and resources in small and rural public libraries and to enhance public interest and involvement in STEM topics -- science, technology, engineering and math. 

Up to 75 public libraries in the United States will receive a grant of $2,500, program materials including videos, and will participate in an on-line training program. As part of the project, you will identify and work with a science partner to present the programs. The science partner should be a local scholar or someone who has knowledge of science. The project's professional development will include strategies for selecting and collaborating with a science partner. More details and the online application are available on the website.

The closest library in the pilot phase was the Howe Library in Hanover, New Hampshire.

ProLiteracy grants

ProLiteracy grants provide adult basic education and literacy programs with New Readers Press books and other educational resources needed to support their literacy initiatives.See the FAQ and the application.

Deadline: April 15. 

Grants are made in the form of either the New Readers Press materials or online self-paced professional development courses requested in the grant proposal.

To be eligible for an NBF grant, the applicant must:
1. have a clearly defined, specific need or project for the materials and/or online courses being requested
2. intend to use NBF materials and/or online courses directly with students receiving literacy instruction and/or with literacy staff, instructors, or volunteers
3. not have received an NBF grant during the 2009-2010 or 2010-2011 program cycles
4. include a narrative (two-page maximum) which covers all of the six areas outlined in the "Proposal narrative" section on the Application
5. include all other application attachments as outlined in the "Other application attachments" section on the Application

The NBF funds organizations providing services in the following areas: basic literacy, adult basic education, English as a second language (ESL), and family literacy.

ProLiteracy's publishing division, New Readers Press, provides the books and materials for NBF awards. These books are high quality instructional materials specially written for literacy students and tutors. The NBF does not provide titles outside of those offered by New Readers Press.