Check out the latest news from across the state in this newsletter from State Library Services!

Remember: members! If you want to apply for any of these grants, let us know! We can help you get your application filled out, your ideas in order, or whatever else you need. Even if you are completely new to grants – we can help you to make this happen!

Updates From Our Partners

ConnectedMN

ConnectedMN is a public/private partnership that works to bring tech devices, internet access, and digital learning support to students across the state, especially communities most in need, including students who are Black, Indigenous and People of Color, students from low-income families, and students residing in rural Minnesota. ConnectedMN is offering a grant opportunity with a maximum grant size of $150,000. To apply, propose a project designed to ensure K-12 students in high need and/or underserved communities have computing devices, access to the internet, and digital learning support. Apply by January 26, 2021, at 3 p.m. Replenish the Shelves Attention, school libraries! The deadline approaches for applying for a library grant from the Laura Bush Foundation for America’s Libraries. The grant provides funds to extend, update, and diversify book and print collections in school libraries. Schools must be a first-time recipient of a library grant from the foundation to apply. Eighteen school libraries in Minnesota have received awards since 2006 — maybe this is your year! Applications are due January 29, 2021. Three Chapters, One Book | One Minnesota In December, we closed the chapter on the third successful One Book | One Minnesota selection – Louise Erdrich’s The Plague of Doves. The recording of the conversation with Louise Erdrich is now up on YouTube. The totals from this chapter mean that there have been more than 52,000 reading experiences by Minnesotans spanning nearly the entire state since One Book | One Minnesota began in spring 2020. While we wait for the announcement of the fourth chapter in the series, don’t forget to send The Friends of the Saint Paul Public Library your libraries’ experiences with any programming around The Plague of Doves, including: number of live events and number of live attendees number of recorded events and their views circulation of The Plague of Doves by month starting August 2020 Please send any data to Alayne Hopkins (alayne@thefriends.org) by January 30. And if you haven’t already, please share this survey link to round out the feedback from around the state: Post-Event Survey for The Plague of Doves (https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/XPSVYP3) Winter Speaker Series on Children’s Literature The Professional Learning Network (PLN), hosted by Reading Success by 4th Grade and the Springfield City Library, started in late 2019 as a network for librarians and museum educators who seek to learn and share about diversity in children’s literature. PLN has pulled together a sparkling speaker series for the first few months of 2021. The lineup includes award-winning author Jewell Parker Rhodes, children’s book author Gloria Repress-Churchwell, David Feinstein from The Eric Carle Museum of Picturebook Art, and ALSC Institute presenter and Illinois librarian Sophie Kenney. To register, click on the presentation title link: February 19, 2021, 10 a.m. Exploring Race and Representation in Picture Books with David FeinsteinMarch 5, 2021, 9 a.m. Resilient Chester! Microaggressions, Allies, and Civility with Gloria Repress-ChurchwellMarch 19, 2021, 9 a.m. Diversity’s Rainbow with author Jewell Parker Rhodes Refreshed Resources from REALM As research into the SARS-CoV-2 (the virus which causes COVID-19) continues, the REALM project website is keeping pace! Toolkit resources can be used to share the REALM results and in discussions about the development and evolution of policies and procedures connected to the COVID-19 pandemic. New resources include: a letter from the Institute of Museum and Library Services to share with your county or city health department and other local decision-makers short videos from library directors on how REALM results figure into their decision-making visual aids to explain REALM findings about SARS-CoV-2’s intensity on various surfaces

About State Library Services State Library Services, a division of the Minnesota Department of Education (MDE), partners with libraries to achieve equity and excellence in our collective work for Minnesotans. Division staff are consultants who help libraries plan, develop and implement high-quality services that address community needs. State Library Services administers federal grant, state aid, and state grant programs that benefit all types of libraries.

Subscribe to our updates