Check out the success story of the West Hartford Public Library’s current LSTA project on WebJunction Connecticut’s Grants Success Stories page.

Despite being a recently launched project, FAIR (Facilitating Access to Information and Resources) details some best practices that all libraries can use regarding services to persons with sensory and/or physical disabilities.

The project enabled a simple staff development day to turn into a transformative experience.

Staff at the West Hartford Libraries practice caning (a.k.a light sabering)

This is a reminder that the survey for the Annual Report 2009-2010 and Application for State Aid 2011 is up and ready for submissions.   Library Directors who did not receive their library’s LOGIN and PASSWORD information from me in July, or have misplaced it, should let me know and I will resend it to them.

This information on the Annual Report includes a quick online-tutorial, and a copy of questions and definitions.

If you have any questions about the survey, please call or email me.  Many, many thanks to all early submitters!

Guidelines for Sparks! Ignition Grants for Libraries and Museums have been released by the Institute of Museum and Library Services.

This is a new grant program that will provide one-year grants of $10,000 to $25,000 for innovative projects that respond to the challenges and opportunities facing cultural heritage institutions in a rapidly changing information environment.

Deadline for applications: November 15, 2010.

Successful proposals will address problems, challenges, or needs of broad relevance to museums, libraries, or archives, will test innovative responses to these problems, and will make the findings of these tests widely and openly accessible. Grant funding may include all activities associated with planning, deploying, and evaluating the innovation, as long as the expenses are allowable under federal and IMLS guidelines. Examples of projects that might be funded by this program include, but are not limited to:

* exploring the potential of highly original, experimental collaborations,
* implementing new workflows or processes with potential for substantial cost savings,
* testing new metrics or methods to measure the impact of promising tools or services,
* rapid prototyping and testing of new types of software tools, or creating useful new ways to link separate software applications used in libraries, archives, or museums,
* offering innovative new types of services or service options to museum, library, or archive visitors, or
* enhancing institutions’ abilities to interact with audiences in new ways to promote learning or improve services, such as through the deployment of innovative crowd-sourcing techniques.

Full press announcement.

Today, September 13th, Assistant Secretary for Communications and Information and NTIA Administrator Lawrence E. Strickling along with members of Connecticut’s Congressional delegation announced that Connecticut will be the recipient of a $94 million Recovery Act Broadband Technology Opportunities Program (BTOP) grant that will help improve broadband internet access and support economic recovery and job creation in Connecticut.

This project will deliver 100 megabits per second fiber service to many community anchor institutions in Connecticut that currently lack this level of connectivity as well the redundancy necessary to ensure uninterrupted broadband access, including Connecticut’s K-12 school districts, colleges and universities, public libraries and public computing centers.

This grant will allow the following libraries to receive upgraded service through the Connecticut Education Network (CEN) and the
Department of Information Technology. These libraries currently receive frame or DSL service through the CEN. This grant will be implemented over the next three years with most of the upgrades being done within 2 years. Thank you to the libraries that provided letters of support for this BTOP application. Your letters were critical to the grant’s success.

Ansonia Public Library, Avon Free Public Library, Brookfield Public Library, Burnham Public Library in Bridgewater, Chaplin Library, Chester Library, East Hartford Public Library, East Lyme Public Library, Eastford Library, Edward Smith Library in North Branford, Enfield Library, Groton Public Library, Janet Carlson Calvert Library in Franklin, Killingworth Library, Libraries Online Inc.in Middletown, Licia and Mason Library,in New Hartford, Mark Twain Library in Redding, Middletown Library Service Center, Morris Public Library, New Fairfield Library, Portland Library, Prosser Public Library in Bloomfield, Rathbun Free Memorial Library in East Haddam, Salem Library, Simsbury Public Library, Union Free Library, Wethersfield Public Library, Westport Public Library, and the Willimantic Library Service Center

I’m afraid the prize is just a grateful “THANK YOU” for public libraries who submit their annual report early.  The deadline is not till November 15, but most libraries already have the statistics they need to complete the survey.  For more information and a 15-minute online tutorial, go to the Annual Report and Application for State Aid page on WebJunction CT.  Library Directors should already have received their user name and password by email.  If not, please contact me.

The Institute of Museum and Library Services (IMLS) is accepting grant applications for the agency’s 2011 Conservation Project Support program. Application guidelines.

Deadline: October 1, 2010.

Through the Conservation Project Support program, IMLS awards matching grants of up to $150,000 to help museums identify their conservation needs and priorities, and to aide them in the safekeeping of their collections through the implementation of sound conservation practices.

Webinars with Conservation Project Support Grants Staff
IMLS will also discuss applications and general issues about the Conservation Project Support Grants program through 2 webinars, scheduled for: Thursday, August 19, 2010 at 3 pm Eastern Time and Thursday, September 2, 2010 at 3 pm Eastern Time.
See the press release and the program site for more information.