Application Due Dates: Dec 31, 2024; March 31, 2025; June 30, 2025
Grant Amount: $500 – $3,000 per selected project
Grant Period: Varies per project, with a maximum of 1 year from award date.
Background
Many libraries and information organizations are recognizing that our institutions fail to interrupt patterns of discrimination experienced in the lives of people denied power and opportunity based on race, gender, sexuality, national origin, spoken language, and disability. We have committed ourselves and our social groups to learning what we’ve missed, and to probing unconscious biases. We are motivated to develop our workplaces into organizations that advance and model socioeconomic and racial equity policies and practices.
The Regents Advisory Council on Libraries released a document in August of 2022 meant to inspire, support, and affirm the excellent work being done and to codify a shared vision for information organizations across New York. Called Vision 2022, it offers a framework reflecting the input of hundreds of library workers and supporters statewide, through which information workers can strategize and direct their efforts toward larger shared goals.
One strategic priority included in Vision 2022 calls for libraries to advance diversity, equity, inclusion & belonging. Northern New York Library Network is funding a grant program to support member initiatives that pursue the fulfillment of this priority in some way. Libraries, archives, and museums (LAMs) champion equity, diversity, inclusion, and belonging when their collections, staffing, programming, and leadership give due attention and representation to marginalized populations, which may include BIPOC, LGBTQIA+, disabled, neurodivergent, unhoused, or other under- or misrepresented populations who experience broad social biases, discrimination, and environmental inequities. We aim to support those fostering brave environments for more just, equitable, and healthy communities.
Get your ideas flowing by looking as a list of potential projects.
Application
LAMs Advance Diversity, Equity, Inclusion & Belonging is a grant program that supports the implementation of a critical component of the Regents Advisory Council on Libraries Vision 2022 within North Country cultural institutions.
Proposals should submit this application form to grants@nnyln.org to be reviewed after the end of each quarter. Applicants will receive notice of funding within 45 days of submitting a complete and eligible application, which must include answers to all application questions, a timeline of activities, and a budget. Projects must address the Vision’s Strategic Priority #2: Advancing Diversity, Equity, Inclusion & Belonging (see Appendix A below).
Application Questions
- Tell us a little about your organization. How do you like to describe to others what you do and who you serve?
- What is the project and how does it advance Diversity, Equity, Inclusion & Belonging in your community? Be as specific as possible.
- How do you know this is needed or desired and what has informed that thinking? Please help us understand what evidence supports this project’s purpose vs. what is being assumed.
- What will success look like? Please name all short or long-term impacts you hope this project achieves.
- How will you check your intentions against your impact? Be as specific as you can be about what you will do to discern the reception of project result(s).
- Include a timeline of activities showing what will happen, who will do what, and how much time you need. How will you know when your project is complete?
- What costs do you predict? Please include a budget listing costs by category.
Guidelines/Restrictions
- Direct compensation and/or fringe benefits for permanent employees are not eligible expenses for the Grant. Fair payment or travel expenses for external help is advised.
- We recommend that institutions applying for funding receive direct quotes from any vendors, contractors, products, and services required to complete their project, in order to plan an accurate budget.
- Grant funding must be used only for products and services directly related to project activities. Cannot include indirect expenses (institutional overhead).
- Grant-related questions and submissions may be directed to grants@nnyln.org.
- Apply using this application form template.
Eligibility
- Applicants must be a current member of the Northern New York Library Network
- Applicants may receive this grant again after the accepted completion of a grant project. (Systems may apply each quarter with different member library partners)
- We won’t fund the same project by the same recipient more than once
Selection Process
Proposals will be reviewed by a committee appointed by the Board of Trustees who complete cultural competency training. Applications will be selected by their alignment with the purpose of advancing Diversity, Equity, Inclusion & Belonging in North Country cultural institutions. Reviewers will use a rubric designed for this grant and consult external resources like this guide for collaborations as needed.
Grantees will be expected to be in communication with the Executive Director and committee with any questions that may arise throughout the project.
Reporting Requirements
The Northern New York Library Network will reimburse awardees for grant expenses at the completion of the project (maximum one (1) year). The following documentation will be required:
- A written narrative of activities performed and their perceived or reported effect(s):
- If you were to do this again, what would you do differently?
- How did your results achieve your hopes and how did your results differ?
- What responses to your work did you get from those served?
- An updated budget that details the expenses incurred during the project.
- Receipts or invoices for all expenses to be reimbursed.
Appendix A
Excerpt from Vision 2022
(note that not all points below are realistic for the funding available through this grant)
Strategic Priority 2: Libraries Advance Diversity, Equity, Inclusion & Belonging
Libraries work toward equity for all by making a material difference in the lives of people who have been denied power and opportunity based on race, gender, sexuality, national origin, spoken language, or disability. We advance and model socioeconomic and racial equity policies and practices. New York libraries may advance diversity, equity, inclusion, and belonging using the following strategies:
- Advancing the State Education Department’s Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Framework.
- Promoting intellectual freedom by curating diverse library collections and public programs
- Preserving access to repositories hosting underrepresented communities.
- Recognizing, acknowledging, and eliminating systemic barriers to library services, including those within internal policies, practices, and governance structure.
- Centering justice by identifying, sharing, and promoting resources and opportunities that restore dignity, acknowledge past harm, and celebrate diversity.
- Resisting surveillance technologies and corporate control of core library services to protect the interests of the public.
- Prioritizing diversity in the library profession, ensuring that library staff, administration, trustees, Friends, and volunteers reflect their communities.
- Investing in scholarships to attract diverse students to the profession.
- Eliminating systemic barriers to hiring and retaining talented staff with a variety of lived experiences.
- Working with vendors committed to upholding diversity, equity, and inclusion principles.
Appendix B
Project examples that might spark ideas for eligible projects
- Diversity Audit
- Evaluate a collection for representation of marginalized populations. Edit the collection development policy to include methods for new measures and decision-making, e.g. setting a minimum target percentage of the diversity it should reflect midway between the local and national population statistics
- Develop strategies for improving equity, diversity, inclusion, and accessibility for employees and incorporate these strategies into institutional, departmental, or personnel documents like strategic plans and job descriptions.
- Interrogate instruction frameworks or curricula for social exclusion, and make changes as needed. Is there room for all languages, cultures, life experiences, or socioeconomic backgrounds to be recognized as authorities, or to achieve “information literacy” in an academic setting?
- Build Relationships
- Develop a simple and well-defined activity with a local person or group working for greater equity or justice in your community or campus. Make an event, an installation, a resource, or even a plan or policy.
- Buy food or supplies for a meeting that brings people together to discuss a shared agenda.
- Support an action, training, or activity for a student group working on an important matter related to equity, accessibility, or social justice.
- Listen to Lived Experiences:
- Create a collection or installation that collects or shares stories from marginalized groups from your community or campus in a way that honors the value and dignity of those represented.
- Hire a local group or individual to consult with staff/administration on the inclusiveness or accessibility of a space, an exhibit, a program, a process, a policy, an online resource, etc.
- Metadata/description:
- Re-catalog a collection through an anti-racist framework.
- Re-catalog a collection that more authentically reflects subjects/individuals representing a marginalized community.
- Curation:
- Build an exhibit, collection, or program series that brings forward historical perspectives of racialized people.
- Begin or continue a series focusing on marginalized communities, hidden histories of racialized groups, and/or prominent figures in racial or social justice work.
- Commission art or photography of and by an underrepresented culture or group.
- Research/Outreach
- Conduct outreach to groups that may experience barriers as users of your resources/services.
- Read a book or an article about how white supremacy or ableism tends to manifest in institutions or jobs like yours, then propose an active response that could change/disrupt the pattern(s) you read about.
- Transition to a fine-free circulation policy.
- Accessibility projects:
- Create or convert collections, experience kits, or programs using universal design principles to specifically be accessible by those with and without disabilities.
- Purchase technology that enables or enhances accessibility for those with disabilities.
- Work with a local student or advocacy group and its members to assess spaces or resources for accessibility.
Appendix C
ALA Core Values
Access
Access provides opportunities for everyone in the community to obtain library resources and services with minimal disruption. Library workers create systems that ensure members of their community can freely access the information they need for learning, growth, and empowerment regardless of technology, format, or delivery methods.
Equity
Library workers play a crucial role in fostering equity by actively working to dismantle barriers and create spaces that are accessible, welcoming, and beneficial for all. This is accomplished by recognizing and addressing systemic barriers, biases, and inequalities to create inclusive library environments where everyone can benefit from the library’s offerings and services.
Intellectual Freedom and Privacy
Intellectual freedom empowers people to think for themselves and to make informed decisions while respecting each individual’s dignity and independence. Library workers encourage people to cultivate curiosity and form ideas by questioning the world and accessing information from diverse viewpoints and formats without restrictions or censorship. The right to privacy is a crucial safeguard to this freedom, ensuring everyone has the right to develop their thoughts and opinions free of surveillance.
Public Good
Public good is working to improve society and protect the rights to education, literacy, and intellectual freedom. Libraries are an essential public good and are fundamental institutions in democratic societies. Library workers provide the highest service levels to create informed, connected, educated, and empowered communities.
Sustainability
Sustainability means making choices that are good for the environment, make sense economically, and treat everyone equitably. Sustainable choices preserve physical and digital resources and keep services useful now and into the future. By supporting climate resiliency, library workers create thriving communities and care for our common good for a better tomorrow.