Tag Archives: ALSC

General, Public, School Media Specialist

Grants and Free Book Opportunity

217/365 August 5 - Found MoneyApply Now for the 2015 Bookapalooza Program

The Association for Library Service to Children (ALSC) is now accepting applications for this popular program, a way to infuse free books into your collection. You may remember our blog post from last year, highlighting the 2014 Bookapalooza award to Talahi Community School in St. Cloud! The award is a collection of books for kids from birth through 14 and includes newly published books, videos, audio books and recording from children’s trade publishers. Last year, this amounted to over 1,350 books valued at $24,000. Applicants must be personal members of ALSC, as well as American Library Association (ALA) members. Deadline for submissions is Feb. 1, 2015. Read the press release which contains needed links.

Sparks! Ignition Grants for Libraries

The Institute of Museum and Library Services (IMLS) is accepting applications for Sparks! Ignition Grants for Libraries. These grants are  small ($10,000 to $25,000) and  encourage libraries and archives to prototype and evaluate innovations that result in new tools, products, services, or organizational practices. They enable grantees to undertake activities that involve risk and require them to share project results–whether they succeed or fail–to provide valuable information to the library field and help improve the ways libraries serve their communities. Of special interest is that there are no matching requirements. Projects must begin on October 1, November 1, or December 1, 2015. The application deadline is February 2, 2015. For more details, start with the press release!

Adobe Software Grants

Educators at Title 1 schools are encouraged to apply for software and teacher development grants from Adobe. The program is designed to increase access to Adobe creative tools through the White House’s ConnectED initiative. In addition to software, educators also receive access to on-demand professional development, including webinars, workshops and collaborative courses to learn more about utilizing Adobe creative programs in the classroom. Prize: Schools receive access to a variety of Adobe tools, including Adobe Photoshop Elements and Adobe Premiere Elements. Educators also receive access to online PD courses. Deadline: Rolling. For more information.

Summer Reading Grants

Applications for the 2015 round of summer reading grants are due January 1, 2015. There are two types of grants, the Summer Reading Resources and the Summer Reading Teen Intern grant. Twenty of each grant are available for $1000 each.

To determine if you are eligible, you must answer yes to the following questions:

Learn more at the Summer Reading and Learning Site!

Did you know that CMLE has a grants page?

Image credit: http://tinyurl.com/k8cbqwd, licensed under CC BY-NC-SA 2.0
Academic, General, Public, School Media Specialist, Special

Quality Websites for Children

Great Websites for KidsLooking for great websites for kids?  The Association for Library Service to Children (ALSC) has the answer!  The ALSC, a division of the American Library Association (ALA), has a working website, Great Websites for Kids, to which they add weekly.  In the ALA’s post from last month, they say “Great Websites for Kids (GWS) features links to high-quality websites of interest to children 14 years of age and younger, organized into diverse subject headings from arts and astronomy to mathematics and museums and many more.”  Each site entry includes a description of the site, as well as a grade-level rating.  Users of the GWS site can rate the recommended sites, save their favorites, and share the sites with others who could benefit!  Do you see one that stands out to you?  Be sure to let us know!

Academic, General, Public, School Media Specialist, Special

Congratulations Talahi Community School!

TalahiBooksThe Association for Library Services to Children (ALSC) recently awarded the 2014 Bookapalooza Program to three libraries, one of them being our own  Talahi Community School in St. Cloud, Minnesota.

“The award includes a variety of materials from books to DVDs and audiobooks. These materials have been received at the ALSC office from publishers for selection committees to evaluate for awards and notables consideration. To make room for the next year’s publications, Bookapalooza was created to infuse three collections with new materials for children age birth through age 14.

The Talahi Community School has plans to use the Bookapalooza collection for many innovative programs that include a reading outreach project with a nearby retirement community, the STEM program for the St. Cloud School District and the newly created reading garden where the children will have an alternative place to read when the weather is nice. The school serves a diverse PreK-5 population of 518 students with much collaboration from the St. Cloud community.  The children who attend Talahi are at the 93-percent factor in free and reduced meals and more than 30 percent of the children come from single parent homes.”

CMLE staff contacted Talahi school media specialist Sara Martini to find out more…

“… the thanks go to Talahi’s foster grandpa, John Bowden, who wrote the grant application. The books came in 27 huge boxes and contained over 1,350 items, worth around $24,000. How exciting!” All of the books are hardcover and were published in 2013 or 2014 and will be available for students to check out.

Excerpts from this post came directly from the ALA press release at http://tinyurl.com/mf6vnq7

If you are part of a library/school media organization in Central Minnesota,  you may have a “feel good” story you too would like to share. These regional stories always have great appeal. Please send your ideas or stories to cmle@stcloudstate.edu and thank you!