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State Leaders Join in Formal Launch of Media Literacy Initiative, Courageous RI

By Nicolette Baffoni | March 6, 2023

On Tuesday, February 28, at the Rhode Island State House, state leaders helped formally launch a new initiative out of the URI Media Education Lab, Courageous RI.  The initiative, funded by a grant from the US Department of Homeland Security, seeks to “improve the practice of digital and media literacy education through scholarship and community service… [reducing] the hate that leads to violence by building a coalition of empowered people who recognize, analyze, and resist harmful forms of expression and communication.”

The initiative will host community conversations around Rhode Island, encouraging attendees, and all Rhode Islanders, to “stay curious, not furious.” They will equip individuals with the tools and skills to be critical about the information they encounter. According to founder and co-director of the Media Education Lab, Dr. Renee Hobbs, “Courageous RI will provide individuals with practical strategies and problem-solving skills at a time when people spend an increasing amount of time online, on social media, and in other digital spaces.”  

Dr. Hobbs, along with fellow leaders of the initiative and guest speaker, Director of the Cranston Public Library and chair of the American Library Association’s Committee on Legislature, Ed Garcia, joined state leaders at the state house launch event.

Learn more about getting involved with the project at courageousri.com.

Related media coverage:

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Grant Opportunities from ALA

By admin | December 1, 2022

The American Library Association’s Public Programs Office has re-opened two annual grant programs dedicated to library programming and community engagement. Check out the following opportunities:

Applications for both grants close on February 1, 2023.

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Public Library Services for Strong Communities Survey

By admin | November 15, 2022

ONE MONTH LEFT! The last day to complete the 2022 Public Library Services for Strong Communities Survey is December 10, 2022! All U.S. public libraries are invited to complete this new survey to help us better understand how libraries use their unique programs, services, partnerships, and facilities to support community needs. Survey participants are eligible for discounted subscriptions for upgraded access to the Benchmark data dashboards and are entered into a drawing to win PLA 2024 Conference registration. Read more & fill out the survey now: https://www.ala.org/pla/data/plasurveys

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Grant Opportunity: Communities for Immunity

By admin | August 9, 2021

Help build vaccine confidence in your community! The American Library Association is partnering with Communities for Immunity to boost vaccine confidence. This CDC-funded project will provide small subgrants (up to $10,000) to libraries and museums for projects to address public concerns. These projects could include displaying material (largely from the CDC and/or the Institute of Museum & Library Services’ REALM project), sharing information within communities, education sessions, hosting vaccine clinics, or other projects. Grant applications will be due by September 2 for the first round; a second round is projected to take place in the Fall. For more information, visit the Communities for Immunity website and check out the funding opportunities.

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RI Libraries Awarded IMLS Grants

By admin | August 2, 2021

Three Rhode Island libraries were recently awarded over $700,000 in grants by the Institute of Museum and Library Services (IMLS). The Providence Public Library received a National Leadership Grant of $532,380 to support its Data for Good program. Two Rhode Island university libraries received grants through the Laura Bush 21st Century Librarian program. Brown University Libraries, in partnership with the HBCU Library Alliance, received a $100,000 grant for “Stronger Together, Leading through Community” to help develop the next generation of library leaders and foster transformation in academic libraries. Roger Williams University Library was granted $96,540 to partner with North Carolina State University Libraries and the Open Education Network to develop a blueprint for equitable open educational practices and to pilot a training program that prepares librarians and faculty to serve as partners for these efforts.

In addition, Providence Public Library and the RI Historical Society Library recently received a new $199,579 federal grant from the National Endowment for the Humanities to continue ongoing efforts to preserve historic newspapers and convert their contents into digital, searchable files.  The funds are being awarded as part of the National Digital Newspaper Program.

Congratulations to all grantees! Read more about these awards in an announcement from Senator Jack Reed’s office. Senator Reed was the lead sponsor of the bipartisan Museum and Library Services Act which provides annual federal assistance to museums and libraries nationwide (including the Office of Library & Information Services) and funds competitive IMLS grant programs.

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RI Libraries in the News: LORI Grant Projects

By Nicolette Baffoni | June 14, 2021

In April 2021, OLIS awarded 16 Library of Rhode Island (LORI) Grants totaling $431,000 to RI libraries and consortia through the 2021 LORI Grant Program. LORI Grants are supported through the federal Institute of Museum and Library Services (IMLS) and funded through the IMLS Grants to States program under the Library Services and Technology Act.

OLIS is excited to share several LORI Grant Projects that have been highlighted in their local news.

East Providence Public Library’s project “Kitchen Inspiration” is an expansion of the Fuller Creative Learning Center’s culinary programs for children. The project uses a Charlie Cart, a child-friendly kitchen on wheels equipped with small appliances and 175 pieces of cooking equipment to engage up to 30 children. Read more about the project in the East Providence Patch.

North Providence Public Library’s project “Any Place Office Space” has allowed the library to create “at home” offices that include a laptop, mobile hotspot, and a portable printer and will be loaned for a 3-month period. Read more about North Providence’s project in the Valley Breeze.

West Warwick Public Library’s Indigenous Voices project will take 8-10 young Indigenous writers through an intensive writing fellowship where they will learn technical, business and marketing skills, and about the professional publishing process for creative fiction from librarians and publishing professionals. Read more in the Kent County Daily Register.

You can read more about all the LORI Grant projects at the OLIS 2021 LORI Grant Awards page.

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Preservation Week

By admin | April 20, 2021

The American Library Association has announced the following regarding Preservation Week:

April 25–May 1, 2021, libraries, institutions, archives, and museums across the country will celebrate preservation and conservation in their communities, libraries, institutions, archives, and museums. Following the Preservation Week 2021 theme “Preserving Community Archives”, Preservation Week will promote and support efforts to conserve community archives, offering free webinars, event tools, and preservation tips and resources.

Pulitzer Prize-winning investigative reporter, New York Times Magazine journalist and founder of the landmark 1619 Project, Nikole Hannah-Jones is the honorary chair of Preservation Week 2021 and appears in free Preservation Week artwork and audio and video Public Service Announcements (PSAs). In addition, Hannah-Jones will be featured in an episode of American Libraries Magazine’s Call Number podcast for a conversation on the 1619 Project, the modern legacy of slavery in the U.S., and the social justice power that community archives represent. Follow her on Twitter with @nhannahjones as she engages in discussions surrounding civil rights and social justice and highlights the significance of community archives.

The American Library Association offers is offering two free Preservation Week webinars on Tuesday, April 27 and Wednesday, April 28. “Collecting and Preserving after Tragedy” will explore the Orange County Regional History Center’s rapid response collecting initiative to preserve items collected after the 2016 Pulse Nightclub shooting in Orlando, FL. Serving as an introductory to rapid response collecting, the webinar will also examine how the museum collected at memorial sites and inside the club, especially concerning the stabilization and preservation of items that underwent heavy exposure to the elements. “Introduction to Community Archiving Workshop (CAW)” will provide a discussion of the Community Archiving Workshop (CAW) model which is designed to engage both trained professionals and anyone with home movies or other creative works stored on film, video, audio, or digital media objects. During this webinar attendees will receive an overview of the history of the CAW committee, an explanation of the basic workshop model, and a summary of the committee’s current work through grant-funded projects. Recordings of both webinars will be available in the Preservation Week Webinars archive after the live events.

Follow @PreservationWk on Twitter and @preservation_week on Instagram during Preservation Week as they spotlight community archives and feature Preservation Week events and activities. Libraries, institutions, archives, and museums are invited to use the hashtag #preswk to connect with their communities and discuss their preservation programs and services.

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Webinar on Anti-Racism in Libraries

By chaichin | March 18, 2021

On Friday, April 9, the the Boston Library Consortium and the Association of College & Research Libraries (ACRL) New England Leadership Development Committee are co-sponsoring a webinar on Anti-racism: From Conversation to Action and Leading with Intention.  Attendees will have the opportunity to “hear four leaders in the profession share their experiences in taking action in their libraries and communities through topics such as promoting diversity, recruitment and retention efforts, having difficult conversations, evaluating institutional policies, and shifting the culture.”

The event is free and open to all, but registration is required. 

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RI Free Tax Prep Webinar

By Nicolette Baffoni | March 5, 2021

Please join Congressman Jim Langevin, along with community and civic leaders to learn how to empower lower and moderate-income taxpayers to use FREE IRS and RI-sponsored tax preparation services like Free File and the Volunteer Income Tax Assistance program (VITA).

This program is on Monday, March 8, from 2:00 p.m. to 2:45 pm on Zoom. Registration is free, but required; register for the RI Free Tax Prep Webinar now!

This is a critical time to connect low and moderate-income taxpayers with all of the free tax preparation services available to them, and get answers to COVID-19 related tax questions. This session will include the top three actions to help eligible taxpayers file their taxes safely and for free, and new tools and resources you can use to inform them now.


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Come Back to the Future in 2021

By chaichin | March 1, 2021

The theme of the 35th Rhode Island Historic Preservation Conference is “Come Back to the Future” which will take place Wednesday, April 21 – Friday, April 23, 2021.  The conference will be in a virtual format with Keynote from “Mr. Modernism” George Smart and landscape architect Kofi Boone, FASLA. 

Visit the conference web site to browse the agenda, speakers, sponsors, and to register.



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