THE LLCF LIBRARY GRANT PROGRAM

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The Program

Lois Lenski, children’s book author and 1946 Newbery medalist for Strawberry Girl, had a life-long concern that all children have access to good books. In pursuit of this goal she established a foundation to provide grants to agencies serving disadvantaged populations.

The Lois Lenski Covey Foundation, Inc. annually awards grants for purchasing books published for young people preschool through grade 8. Public libraries, school libraries, and non-traditional libraries operated by 501(c)(3) agencies are eligible. The Foundation provides grants to libraries or organizations that serve economically or socially at-risk children, have limited book budgets, and demonstrate real need. Grants for 2011 will range from $500 to $3000 and are specifically for book purchases, and cannot be used for administrative or operational uses.

Grants will be awarded on or before 15 December 2011. Organizations receiving grants will be notified by mail. A list of those libraries will be posted by December 21 in the “News” section of the foundation web site, http://www.loislenskicovey.org/2.html. Because of the volume of applicants, no written notification will be sent to those organizations that were not awarded grants.


Funding Eligibility

The LLCF library grant program provides grants for public libraries and school libraries for the purchase of books for children in grades preschool through grade 8 [Early Reader books through Young Adult and Hi-Lo books]. We also provide grants to non-traditional libraries within or operated by charitable organizations [501(c)(3)] that have lending libraries where young people may check out books to read or to use for gathering information. Examples of such organizations include non-profit abuse centers, detention centers, organizations serving young people with mental or physical health challenges, etc. In this latter category the Foundation will consider purchasing books to be used by young people preschool through grade 12, but as with other libraries only Early Reader through Young Adult and Hi-Lo books may be purchased. Only libraries or organizations within the United States, its territories, or commonwealths are eligible.

The library grant program provides grants for purchasing children’s fiction or non-fiction books. The library grant program DOES NOT provide grants for book-donation programs, classroom collections, atlases, dictionaries, basal readers or similar texts, workbooks or similar instructional tools, or for textbooks or encyclopedias.

Grant applications for audio books will be considered only in the cases of children with special needs, where audio books would be particularly appropriate in addressing those needs.

In order for a library to be considered, it must have been in operation for at least three years. County or district library systems cannot apply as a whole; public or school libraries within a county or district system are eligible to apply individually. Grant awardees will be asked to return a brief questionnaire and to provide documentation of grant spending.


Questions

Questions regarding the Foundation or its library grant program may be addressed to:
    Michael Covey
    The Lois Lenski Covey Foundation, Inc.
    P. O. Box 255366
    Sacramento, CA 95865

Alternatively, questions may be sent by email to: michael.covey@loislenskicovey.org.

A link to a downloadable application is available at the Grant Application web page.