Grantees Announced
State Library Services has issued the 2023 Library Service and Technology Act (LSTA) grant awards!
Visit the State Library Services LSTA page for descriptions of each of the 2023 grantees' projects. If you have questions about LSTA grants, please contact Maddie Rudawski (651-582-8400).
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Competitive Grant Awards
Dakota County Library
Friends of the Hennepin County Library
LoveWorks Academy for Visual and Performing Arts
Northfield Public Library
Prairielands Library Exchange
Special School District #1 – Minneapolis Public Schools
Youth Services Exchange: Manga
Join us in January for a session about manga collection development and programming with teens! On January 9, Renee Scott, a Senior Young Adult Librarian at New York Public Library, will share information about collection development and programming in regards to manga and her work with Manga In Libraries.
Youth Services Exchange conversations happen every other month and are open to library staff at all levels serving children, teens and families. They are not recorded.
Register for the Youth Services Exchange Series.
Meetings are a mixture of discussions, presentations, guest speakers, and brainstorming sessions. Mark your calendars for the series!
- Tuesday, January 9, 2 p.m.
- Tuesday, March 5, 2 p.m.
- Tuesday, May 7, 2 p.m.
Digital Well-Being Certification Opportunity Coming Soon!
LiveMore ScreenLess will provide Digital Well-Being Certification Scholarships for Secondary School Media Specialists in 2024.
This opportunity will support and complement the Media Literacy and Digital Literacy work of Media Specialists by deepening the scope of literacy lessons to include tools and resources for promoting balanced, intentional, and ethical use of technology that have been created for and with young people and that activate student leaders.
Save the date for an informational webinar Thursday, January 18, 2024, at 3 p.m. with LiveMore ScreenLess’ Katherine Myers, MEd, Executive Director and Amy Webster, MA, Director of Digital Well-Being Services.
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Complete the Technology Survey
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Is your public library one of the magnificent seven in Minnesota that has already filled out the Public Library Association's (PLA) 2023 Technology Survey? Don't leave them in the lurch!
If 50% or more of Minnesota's public libraries complete the survey, PLA will generate a statewide summary of the data to inform elected officials, the media, and other stakeholders about the valuable digital services libraries provide. And there are benefits for each library as well:
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- Survey participants will be entered into a drawing to win free group registration for up to three staff members for a live or on-demand PLA webinar. Four winners (one per locale type – rural, town, suburban, city) will be announced in January 2024.
- Survey participants are eligible for discounted subscriptions for upgraded access to the Benchmark data dashboards.
The survey is easy to complete, with five sections containing mostly multiple choice and check-all-that-apply questions. It should only take about 30 minutes and it doesn’t require any annual output data.
The survey is open through Saturday, Dec. 16. To complete it, login to your library’s free Benchmark account at https://librarybenchmark.org. Your login ID is your library’s FSCSkey. If you have questions about the survey or gaining access to your Benchmark account, send an email to plabenchmark@ala.org.
Grants for Science Kits in Public Libraries
The Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) Science Kits for Public Libraries Grant project is offering up to $2,000 per library in funding for public libraries across the Midwest for 2024. The grant is focused on the creation of a circulating science kit collection for primary and secondary education students (K-12).
Applications will be accepted from public libraries in the IEEE Region 4 from November 1, 2023, to January 16, 2024. Those libraries which have previously applied for the grant but have not received funding are invited to submit again.
For grant program details and application, visit the Science Kits for Public Libraries website. If you have questions, please contact Doug DeBoer.
Take Your Child to the Library Day
Take Your Child to the Library Day is an international celebration that encourages families to take their children to their local public library. Take Your Child to the Library Day is held annually on the first Saturday of February. To celebrate, libraries across the country and around the world welcome families with programs, activities, and special events.
Last year, the Take Your Child to the Library Day team launched a new public-facing website: takeyourchildtothelibrary.org. The site features information about Take Your Child to the Library Day and the benefits of libraries for children, including an interactive map for families to find a participating library near them.
Coming soon is a librarian resource page with information and tools to make participating even easier, but for now there are short videos about planning your events and making a publicity plan. Participation is completely customizable – it can be as simple as handing out bookmarks, or as elaborate as a full-day extravaganza.
When libraries register, they’ll be placed on the map for their community to find. Register your library for Take Your Child to the Library Day.
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