StoryCorps @ Your Library Grants
Most parents agree it’s not good when their children get what they want all the time. If that’s the case, public librarians should be some of the best kids on the planet! A little rowdy sometimes, but hey, we’re kids.
Take the StoryCorps @ Your Library grant announced last December for example. It wasn’t a real long turn-around time from announcement to proposal deadline on January 18, but at least the wait wasn’t long. On February 28 letters were sent out to the more than 200 libraries who submitted grant proposals. While our library was not one of the 10 libraries receiving this grant, I would like to offer a big and much-deserved congratulations to [link to http://www.ala.org/news/pr?id=12530 ]the libraries that did [/link]! The list of winners:
- San Francisco Public Library (CA)
- Chicago Public Library (IL)
- Tampa-Hillsborough County Public Libraries (FL)
- Somerville Public Library (MA)
- Octavia Fellin Public Library (Gallup, NM)
- Bellmore Memorial Library (NY)
- Greensboro Public Library (NC)
- Multnomah County Public Library (Portland, OR)
- Nashville Public Library (TN)
- Smithville Public Library (TX)
The nice thing about a pilot project like StoryCorps@Your Library is that it provides a platform where we can all learn from the creative ideas each of those libraries will be implementing for programming, outreach and story-sharing over the next couple of years. Surely one or two of them promised to submit an article to our favorite library magazines, right? Conference session maybe?
If you’re not the waiting type, don’t miss Christyna Hunter’s great post on the many ways your library can get involved right now with StoryCorps. The Oral History Association also has a ton of vetted resources to pull you up to speed on the subject.
We don’t always get a pot of money when we want it, but really, these kinds of projects don’t need to cost a fortune. Do some homework and get a game plan. Whether you receive an oral history grant or not, it’s amazing how many opportunities are out there to partner with community organizations for this kind of project. Just start asking questions and make it happen!
Tags: storycorps
