The Impact of Grants on Local Libraries

Pat Norris extended this invitation on behalf of Bridget Lamont and this group, and she asked us to address the impact that grant offerings and grant monies have at the local library level.

I had to laugh to myself after Pat and I finished that initial conversation. Six and a half years ago, I received a call from Jim Ubel asking me to come to Shawnee to discuss with him an opportunity to work on an LSCA project. I'm still there! So, I do need to express my gratitude for a grant program that was my beginning in the system work that I continue to thoroughly enjoy.

I know that you have available to you plenty of documentation regarding grants awarded throughout the years through the Illinois State Library. However, the impact and effectiveness of these grants can be seen far beyond the print on the paper. Grants fund exciting and innovative projects, but the effects that can often be the most lasting are the connectivity and empowerment a successful grant project engenders in its beneficiaries. Perhaps I can briefly describe what it looks like from the perspective of a person working within the system framework.

The significance of grants awarded at a system level cannot be minimized. Automation grants have continued to improve the resource sharing capabilities of even the smallest libraries. System automation grants are never about pieces and parts but about providing effective and efficient service for all library patrons in Illinois.

Recently, Sharon Campbell, our Public Library Consultant at Shawnee, received an LSCA grant to create a Model Policy Manual. This project has been enthusiastically received, and Sharon has been more than willing to share her enthusiasm and broad-based knowledge with groups throughout the state interested in exploring policy issues. A grant awarded to any one system can easily reap benefits for all. At a local level, policy development on issues ranging from blood-borne pathogens to unattended children is feasible for even the smallest of libraries because of the template structure of Sharon's manual. This was a grant awarded to a system, but the end product will often be a "can-do" attitude on the part of local library directors.

At Shawnee, we have recently been involved in the SIRIN project — a cooperative effort on the part of two community colleges and two public libraries. SIRIN stands for the Southern Illinois Regional Information Network. Its goal has been the creation of a library-based information network. In and of itself, it is an exciting project — libraries throughout our system are promoting their sites as the public information utility in their community, and non-profit Web sites in those communities are being linked via the library. The grant began with four agencies, but the development of that network with all the professional electronic linkage it entails has created something much larger.

Even what appear to be the smallest, simplest grants have effects far beyond what we see on paper or behind the dollar sign.

For example, as part of their per capita grant application, school librarians are asked to report to their school boards on the library's progress over the past 12 months — that's connecting, and a grant made that possible.

Certainly, all of us who have been with systems for a few years can point to instances of people being overjoyed when their ALLY grant application was accepted and the first computer appeared in their libraries. The threshold had been crossed into the electronic age and that library had been empowered. Of course, success breeds success. I'm sure that some of the most enthusiastic applicants for the Educate and Automate program were recipients of one of those first rounds of ALLY grants.

I spoke with Pat on a Friday morning. Late that afternoon, there was an excited message from a public librarian: "Ellen, I want to tell you what's been happening with my grant!" Needless to say, I knew the timing of the phone call was perfect, so I returned the call promptly on Monday. This library had received an LSCA grant to do after school programming that had a strong talking book component. A $2,000 materials budget was part of the grant. Once $2,000 worth of materials had been purchased, that small public library was out of shelf space. So, the library director wrote two grants to community foundations and received another

*Ellen Popit, Youth Services Consultant, Shawnee Library System, Carterville. The article is based on a presentation to the Illinois State Library Advisory Committee meeting on January 23,1998.

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$2,800. On the strength of those awards, she received another $500 in contributions and had more than $3,300 to purchase the additional shelving she needed. The LSCA grant she wrote was a start. As a successful recipient, she felt confident enough to write two additional grants. Was she empowered? Certainly! The door of that library has been opened wider to a whole range of possibilities. I must also mention that program attendance was strong and juvenile circulation was up.

When grants form connections among agencies, the value of services provided increases exponentially. Recently, a cooperative collection management grant was awarded to libraries within a particular county in southern Illinois. Each public library has purchased particular reference materials and materials for their general collections in specific areas. Fax machines also were included to make information transfer simpler. The additions to the collections are invaluable, but the working relationships that have been strengthened among librarians within that county are building blocks for further growth.

As a system consultant, I have had the pleasure of being a part of the steering committee for the Institute for Introductory Librarianship that has been held at Bradley University for the past three years, and I can think of no better example of connectivity and empowerment.

First, as a system consultant, let me tell you how very grateful the attendees are for the opportunity to participate. When the applications are first made available, we try to touch base with librarians who are new to the field. The fact that this opportunity is made available and funded through a grant is overwhelming to them. On their behalf, I would very much like to express my appreciation.

Now, as part of the steering committee, let me share some observations. It is a week that is content-rich by any measure. Even during my third summer, I found myself looking forward to the sessions because I knew I would learn. The information that is shared during the week and then brought back to libraries by the attendees is truly amazing!

But there's more! The diversity of this group is truly unique. Attendees have been school and public librarians from every nook and cranny of this state. Last summer, the director of one of the smallest libraries in our system roomed with someone from Chicago Public — what an experience for both of those women, who I am sure discovered in short order that their cares and concerns were much more alike than different. This diversity contributes richness to the strong network formed among these people throughout the week. I've told you that the sessions are valuable, but you should hear the late-night (or early morning) chats in the lounge. That's when problems of all sorts are laid on the table and ironed out by the group. So many of these people don't have the opportunity or time to share with colleagues in this manner, and it's an experience that they all seem to treasure.

Are these people empowered? I've seen their names in Illinois Library Association and Illinois School Library Media Association directories. I've learned that they've received grants, and I've heard them present professionally. I know that they all feel confident about continuing their professional involvement. Nothing describes this better than the experience several of us had at the fall ILA and ISLMA conferences when we met attendees from past years who told any one of us they could find that they wanted ribbons on their name badges identifying them as institute attendees. I don't think the institute could receive any finer endorsement than that — these people are on their way! A grant makes that possible!

Whether the grant funds an institute, a system automation project, an after school program or a single computer, it's the stone that creates the first ripple in the pond and goes on to create opportunities for so many librarians and library users in Illinois. Thank you.

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