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IMLS Awards 3 National Leadership Grants to RI
By Donna DiMichele | October 1, 2013
The Institute of Museum and Library Services (IMLS) announced National Leadership Grant awards to the University of Rhode Island, Providence Public Library, and Providence Community Library. The projects were selected from more than 285 applications. National Leadership Grants for Libraries support projects that improve professional practice beyond the grantee institution.
“Libraries of all types are anchors for their communities. Whether an academic library serving a university, a Native American library serving a reservation, or a local library serving residents, communities rely on these trusted institutions for information they want and need,” said IMLS Director Susan Hildreth. “With these federal investments, libraries will be able to address challenges that face the library field, boost their professional workforce with training and education, and better meet the needs of their communities with improved programs and services.”
IMLS provided the following information about the RI projects.
University of Rhode Island – Kingston, RI
Award Amount: $50,000
Contact: Renee Hobbs
(401)874-2110;
The University of Rhode Island will use its grant to create a plan for a national conference and a yearlong community outreach program that will highlight the best strategies for using children’s film and digital media to increase literacy. The program will bring together the Providence Children’s Film Festival, the Rhode Island Office of Library and Information Services, the American Center for Children and Media, and the Children’s Media Association. This diverse audience will address current needs such as filling in the knowledge gaps of children’s librarians and fostering collaboration between librarians and media professionals and between schools and libraries. The program will also be an experiential learning opportunity for those library and information sciences graduate students that will help their professional development of leadership and communication skills.
Providence Public Library – Providence, RI
Award Amount: $498,172
Contact: Karisa Tashjian
(401)455-8185
To address the needs of the underserved population of Providence, Providence Public Library will use its grant to create “Adult Lifelong Learning Access (ALLACCESS),” which will spur stakeholders across the state of Rhode Island to implement models for increasing access to digital literacy, adult education, and workforce services at two of the state’s leading public libraries. The two libraries and their statewide partners will demonstrate methods for integrating library, adult education, and workforce services to support adults with low education attainment; low English literacy, disabilities, or low digital literacy. This will clearly establish the important role of community libraries in serving these four key populations whose needs cannot be met by the current workforce. The grant project will be accomplished through a partnership that includes Cranston Public Library, the Office of Library and Information Services, TechAccess of RI, institutions participating in the RI Family Literacy Initiative, as well as the Providence Public Library.
Providence Community Library – Providence, RI
Award Amount: $250,000
Contact: Amy Greer
(401)523-3482
Providence Community Library will partner with Ready to Learn Providence on “Ready for K!,” a school readiness program designed to reduce the achievement gap for children who are entering kindergarten and have not participated in formal early learning programs. Major project components include professional development for children’s librarians and family literacy programming, including the creation of literacy kits with books and activities. The project will help ensure that students enter kindergarten ready to learn and will demonstrate the library’s important role as a partner in meeting this essential community need.
A complete list of the library recipients nationwide is available on the IMLS website.
Topics: Digital Literacy, Grants, IMLS, News & Information | Comments Off on IMLS Awards 3 National Leadership Grants to RI
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