Updates from State Library Services
 Now Open – Two 2018 LSTA Grant Opportunities
State
Library Services is pleased to announce two 2018 Library Services and
Technology Act (LSTA) competitive grant opportunities.
2018
LSTA Competitive Grant
An
estimated $545,000 is available to fund grant proposals ranging from $10,000 to
$100,000 that help to achieve Minnesota’s LSTA Five-Year Plan (2018-2022).
Grant awards will support projects that address LSTA Sub-goals A2, C3 and E2.
The overarching goals are to reduce barriers to access, promote equity, and
advance digital literacy.
2018
LSTA Mini Grant
An
estimated $50,000 is available to fund grant proposals ranging from $1,000 to
$10,000 to help libraries offer programs and services that address Goal B2 in
the Minnesota LSTA Five-Year Plan (2018-2022) and
the World’s
Best Workforce legislation by preparing all children for school
and ensuring all third-graders can read at grade level.
Both
grants periods are estimated to start on September 15, 2018, and end September
30, 2019.
To
learn more about our two current LSTA grant opportunities, please attend
an upcoming LSTA 2018 grant guidance webinar – Thursday, June 7,
2018, 2-3 p.m. There is no need to pre-register; just click on the link to
attend. (Call-in toll-free number: 1-888-742-5095, Conference Code: 289
945 0924). Grant applications and instructions are available on the Minnesota
Department of Education's Grants
Management site.
Visit the LSTA
webpage
or contact Leah Larson (651-582-8604)
for more information.
We
are looking for reviewers for both grant opportunities to read and score
applications and participate in a half-day review discussion (the discussion
may not be needed for the LSTA Mini Grants). Please contact Leah Larson (651-582-8604) if you are interested in more information.
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What Do You Want to Hear About from Us—and How??
State Library Services, a division of the Minnesota
Department of Education, is conducting an audit to improve its communications
with Minnesota’s library community. Minnesota’s LSTA
Five-Year Plan, 2018-2022, identifies a need to increase awareness of and
participation in LSTA-driven programs and initiatives.
We hope to learn how you currently use our communication
channels, as well as what you want to know and how you prefer to be reached. We
would also appreciate learning about untapped opportunities for communication
with you. Please complete our State Library Services
Communications Audit survey by June 8, 2018. It will take only about seven
minutes of your time. We will share survey results with our listserv
subscribers. (You can subscribe at the end of the survey or email Jen
Verbrugge.)
If you have questions about the survey, please contact Joe Manion (651-582-8640).
 Early STEM Learning Bookmarks Now Available!
Over
the past two years, we partnered with the Science Museum of Minnesota to offer
in-person early STEM learning in libraries training sessions. All along, we
knew we wanted to make available early STEM learning bookmarks to complement
our early literacy (baby face) bookmarks. At long last, they are here!! Request some bookmarks today, and
we’ll do our best to ship them out in a timely manner.
We
partnered with MDE’s Office of Early Learning, in consultation with the Science
Museum of Minnesota, to identify five basic early STEM practices: Read, Count,
Observe, Predict, and Build. On the back, we included some basic benchmarks
that parents and caregivers can look for to demonstrate the progress their kids
are making because they are taking the time to intentionally engage in STEM
activities with them.
The
early STEM learning bookmarks are currently available only in English, but we
do intend to translate them into Hmong, Karen, Ojibwe, Somali, and Spanish. We
also hope to have a poster version ready sometime in the future. We’ll keep you
updated through this newsletter. Please contact Jen
Verbrugge (651-582-8356) if you have questions or concerns.
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