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This an email newsletter about lifelong learning opportunities from the Montana State Library.
2025 Keep Kids Reading Grant Application is open!
Blind and Low Vision Trunk
Smithsonian Teen Virtual Exchange Program
SDOH Corner
April Virtual Programming
Upcoming trainings for library staff
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Town Pump has long supported public libraries through their charitable foundation and have a separate grant for libraries due to the positive impact summer reading has on student learning outside of school settings. Each grant is $1,000, and any public library in Montana is eligible to apply.
Please apply through the Town Pump Charitable Foundation Grant Application website. The application period for 2025 is February 24th through April 30th.
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Please use this survey of interest to let us know if you are interested in a trunk in your library to better serve your blind and low vision patrons of all ages. This survey describes the items that would be included, and offers space to make suggestions.
2024-2025 Virtual Exchange Schedule
The Smithsonian museum has reached out to let us know about their Teen Virtual Exchange program. It is built around semester-long engagements with each exchange lasting between 6 – 8 week and a condensed summer model.
Within each cohort, paired groups of youth come together in a series of live video dialogues and virtual learning experiences to explore and share the stories of their communities. The Smithsonian welcomes museum educators and public librarians as program facilitators. Each site needs a minimum of 15 teens to participate in the exchange program.
Each facilitator receives an honorarium upon the successful completion of the virtual exchange. Continued Education Unit (CEU) professional credit is awarded at the exchange's end.
All costs associated with the training are fully covered. Each cohort begins a new cycle with new participants:
Upcoming Cohorts
- Cohort 3 (Summer Program): June – August 2025
- Application Period: February 10 – April 11, 2025
- Cohort 4 (Fall Semester Program): September – December 2025
- Application Period: March 31 – May 5, 2025
To indicate your interest in learning more please see this form.
Libraries Partnering with Public Health – Check it out
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Lately, the Chronic Disease Prevention and Health Promotion Bureau at DPHHS has been learning more about the health perceptions of rural and frontier communities and to better understand how we can be more responsive partners for the health and well-being of rural and frontier Montanans. A few weeks ago, my co-worker and I took a trip to Eastern MT to meet people we don’t get to work with very often. We got to spend a few hours with the Sagebrush Library Federation in Miles City discussing libraries as key public health allies.
We had a great discussion about how libraries in very small, frontier towns can find new ways to connect their patrons to health opportunities. We have a useful resource list to share – please reach out if you’d like a copy! We’re also happy to visit other Federations! Additionally, the NNLM has a one-hour summary of health programming at libraries.
Margaret Mullins, DPHHS SDOH Program Manager
April 10th at 6:30 PM MLN Virtual Programming Presents: Disabled in the Wild - Learning How to Explore the Outdoors with Chronic Illness and Disabilities
Equipped with forearm crutches, a portable chair, and the willingness to take a nap on the riverbed at a moment's notice, Amy Denton-Luke shares her journey of finding adaptations, acceptance, and an appreciation for exploring the outdoors with chronic illness and disabilities. Through her personal experiences and powerful photographs, Amy discusses how she continues to enjoy rockhounding, her favorite pastime, while also tending to her symptoms, such as chronic pain and fatiguing weakness in her legs.
Amy also shares some of her work through Disabled in the Wild, including her tips for exploring, her "must have" list for adventures, and her 23 accessibility reviews for outdoor spaces in the Missoula area. She outlines what makes outdoor spaces accessible for disabled folks and why we should all advocate for inclusivity, equity, and accessibility in the outdoors, especially in a state where outdoor recreation has such a central and special place in its residents' lives.
Through this program, she hopes to encourage both disabled and non-disabled folks do the same. Register here to attend.
If your library is interested in becoming a cohost for this program and you would like printable posters, bookmarks and a social media invitation please contact Bobbi deMontigny
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