The MCLS Board of Directors offers a grant program to benefit Indiana member libraries, funded by the proceeds of the sale of the former INCOLSA building, which sold in 2014 for $250,000. We have made $50,000 available per year since 2015 for various competitive grants and scholarships. After a pause during the height of the COVID-19 pandemic, this program is now in its final year (2022-2023). Non-member libraries may fill out an MCLS membership application to become eligible for these opportunities.

Current Grants

Bridging Information Literacy from School to College Using INSPIRE

An MCLS Collaborative Program for Indiana Schools and Academic Libraries and Their Students

Introduction

School librarians, media specialists, and teachers teach important information literacy skills to K-12 students. As students progress from high school to college, academic librarians help them build on those skills, to foster academic success. Though students may encounter different information resources in high school and college, they all have access to a rich set of databases as Indiana residents via INSPIRE , provided by the Indiana State Library. Educators and librarians at all levels can and do use INSPIRE to teach information literacy principles.

Using grant funds from the sale of the former INCOLSA building in Indianapolis, and in collaboration with a group of Indiana academic and school librarians, MCLS has launched a program to support librarians and media specialists to create new information literacy materials that educators and librarians can use to teach students through INSPIRE. Our collaborative effort has several goals:

To spark Indiana school librarians/media specialists and academic librarians to create educational materials (also known to some as learning objects) that teachers and librarians can use to deliver information literacy instruction to high school and college students using INSPIRE resources
To provide librarians and media specialists an opportunity to review the educational materials that are created as a part of this program
To support material creators in disseminating their work at relevant conferences

Program details

MCLS is offering funds for this program to:

Provide $500 stipends to up to ten (10) Indiana school librarians/media specialists and academic librarians to create educational materials (i.e., up to a total of $5,000)
Provide $250 stipends for up to ten (10) librarians/media specialists to review the materials that are created for this program and provide feedback to creators, before materials are posted online (i.e., up to a total of $2,500)
Provide $250 travel grants for up to ten creators to present about their work at a conference (i.e., up to a total of $2,500)

Program timeline

Proposals will be accepted on a rolling basis until the funds are disbursed
The program’s steering committee will select up to ten proposals
We will notify those selected on a rolling basis as proposals are received and reviewed, including a deadline for finished materials
Applications to be a reviewer are accepted on a rolling basis
The steering committee will identify and engage reviewers on a rolling basis as proposals are selected
Reviewers will provide feedback to creators in a timely manner
Finalized materials will be posted online in coordination with Indiana State Library staff

Best practices for educational materials for this program include:

Using standard formats such as text, graphics, or video (or a mix), as well as filetypes that are usable in or via standard Web browsers such as Chrome
Making materials accessible according to ACRL DOLS Instruction Committee guidelines
Using Creative Commons licensing (i.e., CC BY 4.0 ), to allow use, reuse, and adaptation
Including both a learning object and at least a basic lesson plan others can use to teach the content the material covers
Using appropriate standards/frameworks for the intended audience (i.e., ACRL for college students, or AASL for high school students) and appropriate practices (i.e., from LIRT’s Transition to College Committee )
Basing materials on best practices that librarians and media specialists have found successful in teaching information literacy concepts and skills using INSPIRE databases

To get involved in this program:

Propose educational material on a specific topic (multiple proposals are allowed – one proposal per form, please)
Apply to be a materials reviewer

We will send a monthly reminder to the Indiana library community until the funds for this program have been disbursed. Have questions? Please contact MCLS Executive Director Scott Garrison at garrisons@mcls.org.

Wellbeing Literacy 2021

MCLS has partnered with The Wellbeing Lab to support up to 21 Indiana libraries in increasing their wellbeing literacy. People who take this program are curious to learn the science of wellbeing and work on ways to apply it within their organizations and communities. The cohort will be made up of participants from various professions. This experience will be a great way to learn along with other library staff, as well as others outside libraries.

Through grant funds established by the MCLS Board of Directors from the proceeds of the sale of the former INCOLSA building, MCLS will:

Award up to 21 Indiana libraries a one-year subscription to the PERMAH Wellbeing Survey . This tool allows individuals to measure their wellbeing and receive a customized report with evidence-based suggestions, making it an intervention in itself. You may choose to open the survey for your staff, with options for a community-wide version if you desire. The institutional benefits to a library are in the unique data used to design interventions that help people in the system increase wellbeing, learn, and grow. See a sample here: November MCLS report .
Provide a scholarship for one staff person from each of the libraries selected to participate in the Certificate in Creating Wellbeing Program through The Wellbeing Lab. This program takes place over 12 weeks, involving weekly 90-minute evening coaching calls, plus 6 half-day deeper dives (three morning sessions over a Friday and Saturday, one weekend per month), and access to a content library with readings, videos, podcasts, and more. Participants receive an applied course in wellbeing science and a call-to-action to take what they are learning in their own lives, families, and work teams. The Program will begin April 30 and run for 12 weeks.

The Benefits for You and Your Library:

You will have opportunities to understand, maintain, or increase your own wellbeing and quality of life. 
You will form a learning cohort with other champions of wellbeing and change from libraries and other professions to build a shared wellbeing language and toolbox, with just-in-time coaching to apply what you learn in your life and work.
You will be empowered with the science and practices of wellbeing, so much so that you can then empower others by holding space for generative conversations around creating positive change in your library and its community.
An MCLS staff member will be there along with you to guide and support you on your wellbeing literacy learning journey. We will also facilitate ongoing support for your library’s wellbeing initiatives, following the certificate program. 
The total value of the combined survey and certificate program is over $2,500.

All in all, libraries have always believed in the transformative power of ideas. We believe wellbeing is a useful set of ideas that libraries can use to respond, recover, re-imagine, and rebuild systems that help communities rebound and address the inequities in access to information, healthcare, education, and economic opportunities that create stability and healing.  

It’s a tall order, but we believe this approach helps us to innovate, stay relevant and flourish.

Still have program questions?

Join us for:
A webinar with Louis Alloro from The Wellbeing Lab on Monday, March 1 at 1pm Eastern (noon Central) (Join link: https://us02web.zoom.us/j/88691232626?pwd=SlE4WWFvN1JVWmtWUy9WWUJuaVd3dz09 )

A Q&A session about this grant program on Friday, March 5 at 11am Eastern (10am Central) (Join link: https://us02web.zoom.us/j/86753978818?pwd=cXdXODcwTFVmcTNxYWV2dUh6YUUrdz09 , phone number for those calling in only: (408) 638-0968, Meeting ID: 867 5397 8818)

Scholarship Funding eligibility

Applicants must be from an Indiana library that is an institutional member of MCLS.
Applicants may be from any type of library: academic, public, school, institutional, or special.
Applicants must certify that their library will grant them the time and allocate appropriate HR resources to complete the training and communicate the PERMAH survey to staff.

Deadlines

Interested libraries must complete an application form by 5pm Eastern (4pm Central) on Monday, March 15, 2021.
We will send notification of awards by Friday, March 19, 2021.

The Application

Please fill out the online application by March 15 here:
https://www.michellemcquaid.com/thewellbeinglab/certificate-application-mcls/

Grant Application Questions

Questions regarding the grant application should be sent to Pam Seabolt, MCLS Engagement, Consulting, and Training Manager at seaboltp@mcls.org or 517-489-4069.