Date Posted: August 1, 2017
Application Period: August 1 – September 11, 2017
Award Announcement: September 25, 2017
Contact the American Library Association (ALA) staff at 1-800-545-2433, ext. 5045, or publicprograms@ala.org.
Media Literacy @ Your Library is a project of the American Library Association in collaboration with the Center for News Literacy @ Stony Brook University, supported by the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation, the Democracy Fund, and the Rita Allen Foundation.
This project addresses a critical need in the field and the diverse communities libraries serve for adult media literacy training, with a focus on news literacy. The goal of the prototype project is to develop media literacy training and complementary resources designed to prepare public library professionals to educate their adult patrons to be informed consumers of media.
Teams from five public libraries will participate in media literacy training and implement a series of programs for their communities. This cohort of prototype libraries will receive training, promotional materials, and other resources to help them develop effective and innovative adult media literacy programs and services.
During the programming period, participating libraries will help create an online learning series by providing feedback on their experiences. Five public libraries will be selected to receive the Media Literacy @ Your Library grant through a competitive application process. These five libraries will in turn serve as models for other libraries.
All Media Literacy @ Your Library programs must take place between November 1, 2017 and March 30, 2018.
Three-person teams from five public libraries will be selected.
Benefits for LibrariesLibraries selected for the project will receive the following:
ALA will accept applications for Media Literacy @ Your Library between August 1 and September 11, 2017.
Please review the Frequently Asked Questions before filling out an application.
Getting StartedTo begin the application process, go to the project home page.
To apply for Media Literacy @ Your Library, you must complete the following steps:
Before you access the application, you must register to create an application account.
OR
If you have already registered when applying for another ALA Public Programs Office grant project, you may log in using your e-mail address and password.
Note: The project director is the primary point of contact for the project at the applicant library.
To complete Step 3, provide all the information that is requested on the Project Director Information screen. You must then save the information.
After clicking the "Save" button, you will be able to return to the application at any time and log in using your email address and password. This will allow you to edit, save, and return to your application as needed prior to the September 11, 2017 submission deadline.
Your team consists of the project director, plus two other team members. Enter these team members' names, contact information, and optionally, institutional affiliation, if the institution is different from that of the project director. Team members will be displayed in a table as you enter them.
To edit an entry, select the "Edit" check box in that team member's row, and then click "Edit/Delete". To delete an entry, select the "Delete" check box, and click "Edit/Delete." The form requires that you include two members before you can proceed with the application. The person listed as project director on this application is the third person on the team and will be the primary point of contact for the project.
Before you complete the narrative section of this proposal, we strongly recommend that you read these guidelines and FAQs carefully. If you do not, your proposal is unlikely to be competitive. You may save your work at any time with the “Save” button.
The proposal narrative consists of five sections (described immediately below). Please note that each section of the narrative may not exceed 600 words.
Be sure to address the following points in your narrative:
Budget detail
Using the table generator provided, complete a budget for your proposed Media Literacy @ Your Library project activities. Allowable expenses include travel, communications and program expenses. Staff time is not an allowable expense.
Grant amount
Participating libraries will receive $1,500 grants to support participation in the project.
Optional donations and matching funds
If you anticipate receiving or leveraging in-kind or matching donations from a source other than this grant, you may include that information here. (Please note that matching funds may include library support in the form of staff time, travel, etc; partners' support; friends groups; and sponsors.) You will be prompted to enter both the dollar amount and a brief, one-sentence description of the source. This information is optional.
Upload any supporting material related to your application. This may include letters of support, sample publicity materials, etc.
An application to Media Literacy @ Your Library is an application for an award from the ALA, using funding provided by Democracy Fund. ALA is required by law to ask applicants to identify for each application a certifying official who is authorized to submit applications for funding on behalf of the organization.
To complete this section, you must enter all of the information that is requested.
The Review and Edit page summarizes all the information that you have entered, including your Project Director Information and your Proposal Narrative. From this page you can:
Once you have completed all parts of your application, you may submit it at any time by selecting the "Submit" button. All applications must be submitted by 11:59 p.m. CDT on September 11, 2017. Applications submitted after that time will be considered ineligible.
Note that once you have submitted your application, you can no longer alter it. The application will then be submitted for review.
You will receive an e-mail confirming submission of your application. At the confirmation page you will be able to print out a copy of your application. Print and keep this copy for your records.
Applications will be evaluated according to the following criteria:
Other factors that may influence the final selection of libraries include:
ALA will strive to create a cohort of participating libraries that represents a cross section of public libraries and communities.
Peer Review and Selection Process
Each application will be reviewed by a panel of library workers and project staff. ALA will make the final decisions.
Application deadline: September 11, 2017
Grant notification: September 25, 2017
Mandatory In-person Training: October 19, 2017
Programming period: November 1, 2017 – March 30, 2018
Final report due: April 30, 2018
If you have questions about the program, contact:
Public Programs OfficeApplication completion time
ALA estimates that the average time to complete this application is two hours, per response. This estimate includes time for reviewing instructions, researching, gathering, and maintaining the information needed, and completing and reviewing the application. Additional time needed to complete the proposed program plan will vary by library and complexity of plan.
Sign In
To access the application system, sign in with your apply.ala.org profile.
Share This: