Category: Funding

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Preparing for National Library Legislative Day

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I’m getting ready to head to Washington D.C. for National Library Legislative Day on May 7 and 8. And that means more than just watching reruns of Parks and Rec and Veep! It means taking the time to prepare for the conversations we will have with representatives to advocate for libraries. You don’t have to be in Washington in May to advocate for libraries, you can call and email your representatives, too!  Register via the ALA site (it’s free) and they’ll send you free resources so you can easily participate from home. Here are some great tips from a recent NLLD webinar:

Know Your Audience

Create a legislator profile for the person you are contacting. Know their committee assignments, their history on library support and funding and try to find a personal connection if you can (you both have young kids, you both went to University of Pawnee, they are the caretaker of an aging parent). Whether you are talking to your elected official or their staff, this shows that you took the time to prepare and you really care! Continue reading

Digging into the IMLS Strategic Plan

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The Institute of Museum and Library Services (IMLS) has been an essential resource for libraries and library schools since its inception over two decades ago. According to its mission statement, this agency works “to advance, support, and empower America’s museums, libraries, and related organizations through grant-making, research, and policy development.” On the ground, the work supported by the IMLS takes the form of anything from STEAM programming to data-rich research projects. “Transforming Communities,” the recently published 2018-2022 IMLS Strategic Plan, reviews specific successes and focuses on broader strategies to lead us into the next few years. Certain aspects of the plan—approaches to learning and literacy, library engagement statistics, and serving the under-served—might be of particular interest to library staff who work with youth.

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#FundLibraries: Advocacy Season is Upon Us & We Need YOU!

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The proposed White House budget for FY19 that was released February 12, 2018 calls for eliminating federal funds for libraries and the Institute of Museum & Library Services (IMLS), the only federal agency charged with providing support to the nation’s hundreds of thousands of libraries and museums. Now it’s up to Congress to decide whether or not they want to change that.  ALA and YALSA need your help to ensure that IMLS and federal funds for libraries are saved, because without libraries teens will not have the resources and support they need to succeed in school and prepare for college, careers, and life.  Here’s what you can do right now:

  1. Send an email or Tweet to your members of Congress.  ALA has ready-to-use messages waiting for you in their Action Center.
  2. Sign up via the ALA site to receive action alerts so you can easily email or call the offices of your Congress members at critical times during the budget process between now and Sept.
  3. Read and subscribe to District Dispatch, the ALA Washington Office’s blog, to stay up to date on the issues.
  4. Encourage your library users to share their stories about what their local library means to them.  ALA will use these with their advocacy efforts.  Direct patrons to this quick and easy form.
  5. Brush up on your advocacy knowledge and skills by checking out the resources on ALA’s shiny, new ala.org/fund-libraries site and YALSA’s web site.
  6. Sign up to participate in National Library Legislative Day on May 8, online, at your library, or in Washington DC, and check out YALSA’s NLLD resources.
  7. Connect with your members of Congress when they’re in their home districts to keep them informed about the many ways the library helps community members.  Congress is typically not in session the week of a national holiday, like Presidents’ Day.  Schedule a meeting at their local office, and/or invite them to your library.  YALSA has free resources and tips to make this an easy task!
  8. Join YALSA, or make a donation, because together we’re stronger.  YALSA’s the only national organization that focuses its support and advocacy on teen library services. Dues start at $63 per year.  Your support will build our capacity to advocate for teens and libraries.
  9. Encourage your patrons, advocates groups, friends, family, and colleagues to do the above as well.

Don’t know much about IMLS?  Here’s a quick overview: through IMLS, every state, the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico, and the U.S. territories receive funding to support their state or territory’s libraries and museums.  In FY17 the total funding IMLS distributed to states and territories was $156,103,000.  In addition, IMLS offers competitive grant opportunities that individual libraries and museums can apply for.  In FY17 they awarded competitive grants to libraries and library-supporting institutions totaling more than $27,469,000.  Visit the IMLS site to see how much funding your state receives from them.

Want to take further action to support teens and libraries?  We salute you!  Check out the free online resources we have to make speaking up for teens and libraries easy.

Speaking up for teens & libraries during the federal budgeting process

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Each year the federal budgeting process kicks off when the White House releases a draft budget.  This will happen sometime in February, and there’s talk that the FY19 draft budget may be released on February 12, 2018.  If you recall last year, the White House’s draft budget called for the elimination of the Institute of Museum and Library Services (IMLS) as well as all of the federally earmarked funds that the nation’s libraries depend on to provide critical services to their community.    However, a grassroots advocacy effort led Congress to keep funding for IMLS and libraries for FY18.

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YALSA #alamw18 Board Document #22: Member Grants & Awards Next Steps

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In order to maintain a robust and timely organization, an occasional evaluation of the awards, grants and fellowships presented to membership must be undertaken. A member survey done in 2017 indicated that members were interested in having the governing body re-evaluate some of the awards, grants and fellowships to suit the current needs of the organization. With this information in mind, a task force was set up to distill the findings of the survey and make recommendations to the Board at the 2017 Annual Conference in Chicago.

The Fund and Partner Development Standing Committee of the YALSA Board then looked at those recommendations to determine the feasibility of them based on what YALSA finances would allow and to determine if any of the awards, grants and fellowships needed to be discontinued or others to be added. The committee also looked at concerns about how the awards were marketed to the membership and if the eligibility language of the awards was clearly spelled out so that those members who could apply would. The Fund and Partner Development Standing Committee brings forth the recommendations in Board Document #22.

Overview

The Fund and Partner Development Standing Committee was given the task to appraise the findings of the Member Awards Evaluation Taskforce for YALSA and its members. Based on this information, the FPD Standing Committee has issued the proposals below for each of the existing YALSA Awards.

Recommended Board Actions

• The YALSA Board Directs the President to appoint two short term member groups to develop a proposal for each of the two new awards, and to submit them to the Board for review for their June 2018 meeting.
• The YALSA Board directs the Executive Director to work with staff to expand the focus of the MAE Award and Collection Development Grant.
• The YALSA Board directs the Fund and Partner Development Committee to work with the Executive Director to identify potential award sponsors and reach out to them.
• The YALSA Board approves the recommendation to discontinue the Midwinter Paper Presentation and directs the Executive Director to work with staff to carry out the necessary work to sunset the grant.

See the full report here.

Respectfully submitted,
Todd Krueger
YALSA Division Councilor

Catch Up With a Past Grant Winner — Part 2

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Thinking of applying for a Dollar General summer grant? Hear firsthand from 2015 summer learning grant winner Emily Otis, in Q&A style, about her 2015 summer program for Anaheim Public Library in California and how receiving the grant helped her and her teen patrons. This is the second of a short series in which we catch up with previous grant winners.

1. Please tell us a little bit about your library and your 2015 summer reading program.

2015 was the first time in many years that the Teen SRP was run by a dedicated Teen Librarian. After budget cuts and layoffs about 5 years before, one librarian shared responsibility for adult and teen collections and services. I was hired as Teen Librarian in the fall of 2014, and saw right away that YA collection development and teen programs had languished (as would be expected). Our SRP numbers from the year before had been relatively low, and there had been no programming. The theme for 2015 was Read To the Rhythm, so I planned musically inspired programs, had teen volunteers create a musical mural to hang in the teen space, and went out to the high school to promote the program and drum up participation. See More

The summer learning grant applications are open now until January 1st, 2018. There are two types of grants available, valued at $1000 each, and 40 total grants will be awarded. Eligibility requirements apply. More information and applications can be found here.

Catch Up With a Past Summer Grant Winner

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Want to hear firsthand the benefits of applying for a Dollar General summer grant? 2015 summer learning grant winner Bill Stea, in a Q&A style spoke about his summer program for Walford West Library in Maryland and how receiving the grant helped him and his teen patrons. This is the first of a short series in which we catch up with previous grant winners.

  1. Please tell us a little bit about your library and your 2015 summer reading program

Waldorf West Library is the largest and newest of the four branches in the Charles County Public Library system in Southern Maryland. Our library serves the citizens and community of Charles County, a suburban county below the Washington, DC beltway. According to the 2013 US Census American Community Survey, 8,818 county residents are currently enrolled in Grades 9 through 12 in public school and 8,475 of teens in that age range have library cards. See more.

The summer learning grant applications are open now until January 1st, 2018. There are two types of grants available, valued at $1000 each, and 40 total grants will be awarded. Eligibility requirements apply. More information and applications can be found here.

Support YALSA for #GivingTuesday

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Today is #GivingTuesday – a movement that celebrates giving and encourages more, better and smarter giving during the holiday season.

Please consider making a donation to Friends of YALSA to support grants, scholarships and awards for members, and encourage your friends, family and colleagues to do the same. So far in 2017, Friends of YALSA has raised $9,802 towards its goal of $14,095 needed to provide our annual member grants, awards and scholarships. Our Giving Tuesday goal is to raise the remaining $4,293. This year, Giving Tuesday is extra special because you can double your impact! With every dollar that is donated, ALA will match it, dollar for dollar (up to a $1,000 individual gift)!

I am giving to Friends of YALSA to give back to an organization that has done so much for me. I have taken advantage of the awards, grants, and more leadership and learning opportunities than I could count. Now it is my turn to pay it forward.

Donate Today and help Friends of YALSA support our profession. Then, take an #UNselfie with a message explaining why you are giving, tag it #GivingTuesday and post it on our Facebook or tweet us!

Thank you – and Happy Giving Tuesday!

 

Kate Denier is the Chair of YALSA’s Financial Advancement Committee.

How YALSA Funds Member Services & Support for Library Staff

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A common question that I get, especially from new board members, is about where funds come from to support YALSA and its members.  The answer is pretty straightforward, although not one many people expect.  Member dues make up only about a third of YALSA’s total funding.  The other two thirds comes from product sales (award seals, books & e-learning); events (YA Services Symposium & ticketed events at ALA conferences); grants; corporate sponsorships; interest from YALSA’s endowments; and individual donations.  Many people are surprised to learn that funds from ALA or the Institute of Museum and Library Services (IMLS) are not a part of YALSA’s annual budget.  Actually, YALSA receives important services from ALA, such as HR and legal counsel, but not regular financial support.  IMLS offers competitive grants that YALSA is eligible for, and we have been awarded two.  If you’re interested, you can learn more about YALSA finances in my latest annual report.

All the funds that come into YALSA, from whatever source, are used to

  1. Provide members with services and support, like free monthly webinars and the summer learning grants we now have available
  2. Create and share resources with the library community, at no cost to library staff, such as our short, informational videos and newest toolkit about teen literacies

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YALSA Fundraising Update

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Thanks all to all who have donated to YALSA so far, especially those who have given since the challenge match was announced. We’re currently at $4,535 in money raised. Thanks to all who gave at the symposium – we raised $2,000 in Louisville! And that wasn’t from members writing big checks – it was from donations of $5 to $10 that added up quickly. So every dollar really counts!

Your donations to Friends of YALSA and the Leadership endowment advance the impact of teen services across the country. Thanks to you, YALSA is able to annually fund a Spectrum Scholar, an Emerging Leader, and so much more. And now, with the challenge match, your gift will go farther to help support an additional spectrum scholar, provide scholarships to a brand new leadership e-course, and help establish a PhD fellowship for teen services.

If you haven’t donated to YALSA this year, please make a gift today! And, if you have made a gift, please consider making a second one, to maximize this match opportunity! Your gift will go farther to help support an additional spectrum scholar, provide scholarships to a brand new leadership e-course, and help establish a PhD fellowship for teen services. This is a perfect opportunity to talk with friends and colleagues about the great work of the association you are a part of, and inspire them to make a contribution as well.

We only have until January 15th to take advantage of this $10,000 matching opportunity, so take advantage of this opportunity to double your impact!