Originally Published at In the Library With a Lead Pipe, May 2017.
On May 1st, The Innovation in Libraries Awesome Foundation Chapter will distribute its monthly call for grant applications across a global network.
On May 15th, The Innovation in Libraries Awesome Foundation Chapter will close its call for grant applications.
Between May 16th and May 30th, The Innovation in Libraries Awesome Foundation Chapter trustees will read, debate, build consensus, and ultimately vote on a winning project.
On May 31st, the Innovation in Libraries Awesome Foundation Chapter will announce the winning project.
This cycle will repeat every month through September.
What We Are & What We Fund
The Innovation in Libraries micro-grant initiative is a community-funded effort that follows on the Awesome Foundation’s model: the grant brings together a group of trustees who make or direct a monthly personal contribution of $50 USD, for an aggregate of $1000 USD, to collectively fund one project per month.
The trustees who fund and select the grant awardees were carefully recruited by members of Library Pipeline from around the world, and across the spectrum of librarianship, with an aim to create a funding body that would support innovation in all its diversity. To prevent financial constraints creating a barrier to participation, recruited trustees have the option of directly funding their own seat or requesting financial sponsorship for their monthly contribution. We gratefully acknowledge the generosity of our sponsors, whose funding has made it possible for librarians from all walks of life to serve as trustees. Though several of our financial sponsors comprise the Advisory Board of Library Pipeline, many individuals chose to donate to the initiative anonymously.
Throughout the pilot period, ending with a final granted project in September 2017, grant applications are accepted from the first through the fifteenth of each month.
Trustees then discuss, vote, and fund one innovative library project in that month. Through this model, the Innovation in Libraries Awesome Foundation Chapter provides a catalyst for prototyping both technical and non-technical library innovations that embody the principles of diversity, inclusivity, creativity, and risk-taking. In March, for example, the trustees funded a collaborative project between the Summit Public Library and The Warehouse Project & Gallery entitled 100 Years…100 Selfies!
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