Funding Your School Library Media Center Strategic Starting Points WIT Delta Meeting February, 27, 2004

Steps in the process: Take inventory: – What do you already have on which to build? Excellent staff, relationships with the community, principal advocate, active students, programming ideas, etc.? – Where are the gaps? Where do you see a need for expansion, improvement, or support?

Creative thinking… Be innovative… – Consider how you can take your strengths and weaknesses, and combine them – Consider strategic partnerships where you demonstrate your ability to collaborate and accomplish as part of a team – Consider how this program or request can be sustained or have impact beyond initial funding

Partnerships Technology with non- technology Teachers with media specialists – Science – Mathematics – History/Social Science – Language Arts – Health

Resources: CPS: a first stop!: m m TechLearning: Illinois State Library: School Library Per Capita Grant (apps. Accepted beginning in Sept.) f Library Services Technology Act (LSTA) Grants ml – Make it fit the Long Range Plan for the LSTA ( ) e2003.doc e2003.doc

Examples of success Partnerships: – Elementary School Storytelling in community: artments/library/what_we_do/pdfs/s torytelling.pdf artments/library/what_we_do/pdfs/s torytelling.pdf – Schools partnering with public libraries: artments/library/what_we_do/sixsch ools.html artments/library/what_we_do/sixsch ools.html

You’re not alone! First time grant writer shares her pain: partments/library/what_we_do/pd fs/GrantWriter.pdf School Grants Org: htm htm

Books Hoffman, Frank W., ed. Grantsmanship for small libraries and school library media centers. Englewood, Colo.: Libraries Unlimited, Burlingame, Dwight, ed. Library fundraising: models for success. Chicago: American Library Association, Barber, Peggy and Linda D. Crowe. Getting your grant: a how-to-do-it manual for librarians. New York: Neal- Schuman Publishers, Created by S.L.Comstock