2021 Library Of Rhode Island Grant Awards

[April 21, 2021] OLIS awarded 16 Library of Rhode Island (LORI) Grants totaling $431,000 to RI libraries and consortia through the 2021 LORI Grant Program. LORI Grants are supported through the federal Institute of Museum and Library Services (IMLS) and funded through the IMLS Grants to States program under the Library Services and Technology Act.  The 2021 LSTA sub-grants are for the period of April 2021 through September 2021. To learn more about eligibility requirements and the application process visit the 2021 LORI Grant page.

Grants

Barrington Public Library

Located in: Town of Barrington

Website: Barrington Public Library

Project Title: East Bay and West Bay Recording Studios

Grant Award: $17,589

Project Director: Jessica D'Avanza, Community Engagement Librarian

The project will build two recording studios, one in the East Bay at Barrington Public Library and the other in the West Bay at Warwick Public Library, for use by Rhode Island citizens. The studios will empower residents to create content and engage in civic and community conversations on Rhody Radio: Rhode Island Library Radio Online, a new Warwick community podcast, and their own podcasts.

Coventry Public Library

Located in: Town of Coventry

Website: Coventry Public Library

Project Title: Mobile Library Pilot

Grant Award: $10,000

Project Director: Megan Weeden, Library Director

This grant will fund a pilot program for a Mobile Outreach Unit. The library will create pop-up libraries that will help to bring library services further into the community. For 10-12 weeks, the outreach librarian, adult services librarian and teen librarian, along with an assistant, will set up these pop-up libraries at neighborhoods, schools, community events, senior housing complexes and summer recreational centers. The pop-up library will allow the library to promote services, register people for library cards, checkout and return library materials, demonstrate digital services and provide outdoor programming.

East Providence Public Library

Located in: City of East Providence

Website: East Providence Public Library

Project Title: Kitchen Inspiration

Grant Award: $12,210

Project Director: Ryan McCauley, Coordinator of Learning and Discovery

Kitchen Inspiration is an expansion of the Fuller Creative Learning Center’s culinary programs for children. At its center is the Charlie Cart, a child-friendly kitchen on wheels equipped with small appliances and 175 pieces of cooking equipment to engage up to 30 children. Included is a K-5 curriculum with lessons and recipes aligned to math, science, and language arts. Using a multidisciplinary approach to nutrition education that establishes the connection between food, health, and the environment, the curriculum will provide the framework for cooking programs for children to improve their nutrition knowledge and to develop basic cooking skills.

Mayor Salvatore Mancini Union Free Library

Located in: Town of North Providence

Website: Mayor Salvator Mancini Union Free Library

Project Title: Any Place Office Space

Grant Award: $11,250

Project Director: Stefanie Blankenship, Library Director

During the pandemic closure of the library, many residents were left without broadband access, computers, and printing. Upon reopening, the need for office equipment became evident for unemployment, distance learning, job searching, taxes, and COVID testing and vaccination appointments. The library’s 8 public computers remain booked and in 8 months, the library saw 3,303 computer sessions, 5,300 print jobs, and 115 mobile hotspot rentals with 61 renewals. Any Place Office Space will create “at home” offices that include a laptop, mobile hotspot, and a portable printer and will be loaned for a 3-month period.

Ocean State Libraries (OSL)

Ocean State Libraries is the statewide consortium for public libraries

Website: Ocean State Libraries

Project Title: Analysis of Public Library Use and User Characteristics

Grant Award: $20,000

Project Director: Stephen Spohn, Executive Director

OSL will analyze usage data alongside free and commercial national survey data to develop a deeper understanding of library users and non-users. Project deliverables will include statistical dashboards and a written report that will aid the state and individual libraries to better understand user behaviors as well as notable differences among users and non-users that may inform future library outreach or other strategic priorities.

Providence Community Library

Located in: City of Providence

Website: Providence Community Library

Project Title: Contectando Neustra Gente

Grant Award: $48,200

Project Director: Janet Fuentes, Communications & Marketing Manager

Providence Community Library will expand its visibility and relevance to residents living in the neighborhoods around Olneyville, South Providence, Washington Park, Knight Memorial and Mt. Pleasant Libraries where 40%+ of residents speak Spanish. The library will hire a bilingual outreach consultant to collaborate with the Latino Program Manager and Communications & Marketing Manager to identify relevant communication channels, pilot new programs for Spanish-speaking adults through increased networking with Spanish-speaking artists and educators, and purchase new collections in Spanish. In-person outreach will be conducted with a “bicycle bookmobile” that will offer programming, library card sign up, and books in Spanish-speaking neighborhoods.

Providence Public Library

Located in: City of Providence

Website: Providence Public Library

Project Title: PPL Library Garden Exchange

Grant Award: $24,500

Project Director: Tien Tran, Head of Information Services

PPL Library Garden Exchange aims to create a bridge between gardening and literacy practices specifically among immigrant and refugee communities in Providence. The library will install gardens at PPL and create packages of books and other materials in non-English languages to take into immigrant communities, targeting community gardens, farmer’s markets, and other locations and events where immigrant farmers or gardeners are found. The library will recruit paid volunteers to survey package recipients, and will partner with local organizations to create programming that leverages the library-garden nexus to connect speakers of other languages with gardening and literacy resources

Rhode Island Center for the Book

The Center for the Book is a statewide program supporting reading for all ages

Website: Rhode Island Center for the Book

Project Title: Reading Across Rhode Island and Kids Reading Across Rhode Island

Grant Award: $29,780

Project Director: Kate Lentz, Executive Director

Reading Across Rhode Island (RARI) invites Rhode Islanders to join in the reading of Stamped: Racism, Anti-racism and You by Jason Reynolds and Ibram X. Kendi. The program runs from January through July with readers joining intergenerational discussions and participating in events such as lectures and dramatic interpretations. Kids Reading Across Rhode Island (KRARI) celebrates it’s 12th year with students in grades 3-6 particpating in activities related to the book Become Muhammad Ali by Kwame Alexander and James Patterson. KRARI programming begins in schools and continues in libraries throughout the summer. The program provides continuity between school-time and summer reading by collaborating with local libraries.

Rhode Island Historical Society: Robinson Research Center

Located in: City of Providence

Website: Rhode Island Historical Society

Project Title: A Digital Library of Rhode Island History

Grant Award: $39,260

Project Director: Richard Ring, Deputy Executive Director for Collections and Interpretation

The RI Historical Society (RIHS) will create a freely available web-based, searchable database, into which RIHS will input the first 1,151 bibliographic citations of the works listed in the standard bibliography of Rhode Island history. RIHS will also provide links to already digitized copies of those works - or digitize works and place the PDFs on their host site, linked to the database records - beginning with those in the public domain or for which RIHS can obtain rights.

Rhode Island Library Information Network for Kids (RILINK)

RILINK is the statewide library consortium for school libraries

Website: Rhode Island Library Information Network for Kids

Project Title: RILINK in the Cloud

Grant Award: $49,224

Project Director: Dorothy Frechette, Executive Director

RILINK in the Cloud will move member school library media center catalogs to a cloud-based platform that better meets the needs of students and teachers with easy-to-use online interfaces and device apps, visual images, and search capabilities. Districts and independent schools will be able to make connections to single-sign-on platforms such as CLEVER and learning management systems such as Canvas. The RILINK online shared database of eBooks and digital audiobooks will also move to a new platform with a greatly increased number of titles meeting student needs for special formats, accessibility, and multicultural materials.

Rhode Island School of Design (RISD)

Located in: City of Providence

Website: Rhode Island School of Design - Fleet Library

Project Title: RISD Archives Magnetic Media at Risk

Grant Award: $20,310

Project Director: Margot McIlwain Nishimura, Dean of Libraries

The RISD Archives has 2000+ at-risk, time-based, magnetic media tapes. The library will run a pilot to digitize 331 of these tapes to meet preservation standards. The batch will include 68 tapes of research studies and presentations related to the Universal Kitchen project, which had a major impact on how designers address accessibility and universal design issues. In addition, the library will digitize recordings of academic lectures and institutional events by major artists and designers of the late twentieth century, to both preserve their significant content and to make them accessible to RISD and RI audiences and beyond.

Rhode Island State Library

Located in: City of Providence

Website: Rhode Island State Library

Project Title: Rhode Island Public Laws Digitization Project

Grant Award: $50,000

Project Director: Megan Hamlin-Black, State Librarian

As a unit of the Rhode Island Department of State, the State Library strives to make government information accessible and transparent. To support this effort, the library will digitize five years of Rhode Island’s Public Laws starting in 1993, the most recent year that has not been digitized. The project will allow for increased and permanent access to the public laws as they will be accessioned in Preservica and cataloged in the Library's OPAC for increased usability. In addition to providing increased access, the equipment purchased will allow library staff at the State Library and State Archives to continue digitizing books after the grant-period concludes.

South Kingstown Public Library

Located in: Town of South Kingstown

Website: South Kingstown Public Library

Project Title: Narragansett Times Newspaper Digitization

Grant Award: $11,305.00

Project Director: Laurel Clark, Library Director

The South Kingstown Public Library holds complete publication runs of The Narragansett Times, a local newspaper which captures the essence and news of southern Rhode Island, serving the communities of South Kingstown, Narragansett and the surrounding areas. The South Kingstown Public Library will digitize the paper for remote patron use, from the first issue published in 1855 thru the1980 issues from microfilmed copies the library presently owns.

West Warwick Public Library

Located in: City of West Warwick

Website: West Warwick Public Library

Project Title: Indigenous Voices Anthology & Fellowship

Grant Award: $11,500

Project Director: Amber Bliss, Reference Librarian

The Indigenous Voices project will take 8-10 young Indigenous writers through an intensive writing fellowship where they will learn technical, business and marketing skills, and about the professional publishing process for creative fiction from librarians and publishing professionals. The writers will apply the skills learned by leading several workshops for the public through the library. The project will culminate with the publication of an anthology of the writers’ work by the WWPL’s press.

Westerly Library & Wilcox Park

Located in: Town of Westerly

Website: Westerly Library & Wilcox Park

Project Title: Website Accessibility ADA Compliance

Grant Award: $25,575

Project Director: Kelli Butler, Marketing & Communications Manager

Westerly Library & Wilcox Park is currently in the midst of a rebranding and website overhaul. The goal of this project is to improve the library’s virtual presence, improve mobile access, and make the website more user-friendly for all. A major component of this project is upgrading the library website to meet a higher level of accessibility. The new website will be designed and developed to conform to The World Wide Web Consortium’s Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) guidelines and pass all relevant success criteria by ensuring WCAG 2.1 Level AA compliance.

Woonsocket Harris Public Library

Located in: City of Woonsocket

Website: Woonsocket Harris Public Library

Project Title: Woonsocket Call Digitization

Grant Award: $50,000

Project Director: Margaret McNulty, Assistant Director

The Woonsocket Harris Public Library will expand access to library-use only materials through digitization of the library’s microfilm collection of the Woonsocket Call newspaper dating from 1900-1960. The Woonsocket Call archives are not yet available in digital format. Optical character recognition (OCR) technology will be utilized for keyword text searching on a website hosting the digital files. Library staff will record metadata in an excel file in accordance with the standards and requirements of the Digital Public Library of America (DPLA). The metadata will be provided to the appropriate local hub for submission to DPLA.