Grants and scholarships
Apply now for ALA’s Libraries Transform Communities Engagement Grant to help build neighborhood connections!
This one seems a little more geared towards slightly larger libraries, as the grant this year will support two libraries’ work to build neighborhood connections with $2000 apiece. Libraries should work collaboratively with community members and at least one partner organization to develop a project that addresses a local issue and builds upon community assets. Applications open from December 2-February 3.
Interested in applying but need a sounding board to help you think it through? You can submit a help desk ticket!
Scholarships and Grants for Early 2025!
Thanks to a grant from the Wisconsin Department of Public Instruction with funding from the Institute of Museum and Library Services, IFLS is awarding scholarships to IFLS-area public library workers for a variety of online and in-person learning opportunities. Check out the information on scholarship opportunities and how to apply. Rolling deadlines, with the first applications due by January 6. Opportunities include:
- Online courses offered by the UW Madison iSchool Continuing Education department (including several youth services, adult services, and management offerings)
- Online and in-person conference opportunities (Power Up, Lead the Way, and WAPL)
- A Build-Your-Own-Inservice opportunity.
Questions? Contact Leah at IFLS!
Learning Loop: new blog from Leah on the website!
Isn’t it cool when people go away to a conference and then come home full of ideas to share? We love that, and with the new IFLS blog Learning Loop we can share the wealth! Those who receive scholarships from IFLS (through funding from the Institute of Museum and Library Services) now have a great place to share a take-away or two from their professional development experience. We already have two posts up, with many more to come. Take a look at these:
- Supervising Part-Time Staff by Jamie Smith (Hudson Public Library)
- Goodbye Dewey? Rethinking Youth Nonfiction by Katie Halama (L.E. Phillips Memorial Public Library)—don’t be confused, this one is cross-posted in the Keeping Up with Kids blog!
Keep checking the Continuing Education Page for updates, as there are several more to come!
Stand up for libraries
It’s a budget year in Madison, and a very good year to identify advocacy partners in your community and get involved! Library Legislative Day is scheduled for February 11, and registration closes on January 10. Please consider going yourself, and identify and encourage community members, like trustees or communities partners, to join you. Don’t underestimate the power of individual voices to impact policy! Said Randy Cook (Barron County Commissioner) at the recent Barron County Budget Hearing that reinstated library funding, “This is how democracy works…when people take the time and interest to attend these meetings.”
We’ll launch Library Love Story on January 2: watch for details in Weekly Digest. If you want more details about how Library Legislative Day works, contact Reb (kilde@ifls.lib.wi.us) or John (thompson@ifls.lib.wi.us).
We need your feedback: a trio of surveys
For all IFLS library workers: making learning more accessible
We’re hoping to make our professional development opportunities (like webinars and workshops and beyond) more accessible to public library workers in our system. As a starting point, we need to learn about barriers to professional development, and consider:
- Ways to accommodate different learners, especially neurodivergent people
- Ways to accommodate situations
- Limited time
- Limited budgets
- And more
Please help us out by taking 5-7 minutes or so to respond to this survey by December 20. We care about your opinions and experiences!
For Wisconsin Library Directors: Governmental Services Provided by Wisconsin Libraries
This survey aims to gather information about public libraries that currently offer, or are considering offering, passport services, notary services, license plate renewal, and other governmental services. Your input will help us understand the benefits and challenges associated with these services.
Deadline for taking this Government Services Survey is Friday, November 29, 2024. Results will be compiled and shared in early 2025.
For librarians who like the idea of a free professional learning community
This survey will result in a product that will hopefully be helpful (and free) to all libraries.
With funding from the Institute of Museum and Library Services, ALA is spearheading an effort to build an online professional learning community where library workers can access free learning materials that build their capacity to create engaging public programs. To begin, they are developing a set of prototype learning materials about one specific area relevant to many library workers’ jobs: program marketing.
Program Marketing Survey Please help ALA staff understand your strengths, weaknesses and needs related to program marketing. Estimate is that the survey will take 5-7 minutes. And please share this survey link far and wide with your library world colleagues!
If you have any questions or concerns about the survey, or the project at large, please email the ALA Public Programs Office at publicprograms@ala.org.
Online learning
Lunch and learn: WeCOPE
Our friends at UW-Madison–Extension are sponsoring a 6-session online lunch and learn opportunity called WeCOPE, an evidence-based program that helps adults cope with life stress by connecting with positive emotions. The sessions will meet from noon to 1:00 pm on Thursdays from January 16 to February 20. Learn more about WeCOPE on the UW Extension website. Use this form to register for WeCOPE.
Wild Wisconsin Winter Web Conference
Registration is now open for the 13th Annual Wild Wisconsin Winter Web Conference, a two-day series of webinars that will be held on January 22-23, 2025.
Fourteen sessions will be available in four tracks, including Management, Marketing, Internal Communications, and Small Libraries. There is no cost to attend! Thanks to support from Wisconsin public library systems, along with the Department of Public Instruction, registration for this conference is free.
Impactful Annual Reports
Maybe you want to get a little reading done, to think about how to present your annual report. 6 Resources for Building Impactful Nonprofit Annual Reports is from Constructive, and organization that provides brand strategy and web design for nonprofits that helps build a more just, equitable, and sustainable world.