2024 LORI Project Grant Awards

OLIS awarded seven Library of Rhode Island (LORI) Project Grants totaling $143,275 to RI libraries through the 2024 LORI Project Grant Program. LORI Grants are funded through the federal Institute of Museum and Library Services Grants to States program under the Library Services and Technology Act. The 2024 LORI LSTA sub-grants are for the period of February 2024 through September 2024. Learn more about the program at the 2024 LORI Project Grant Notice of Funding. 

Visit 2024 LORI Mini-Grants to view the current mini-grant awards.

Barrington Public Library 

Located in: Town of Barrington

Website: Barrington Public Library 

Project Title: Barrington Times Newspaper Digitization

Grant Award: $25,000.00

Project Director: Ben Hanley, Head of Information Services 

The Barrington Public Library will digitize issues of the Barrington Times, a local East Bay newspaper, from 1958 to 1989 to make this historical resource accessible and searchable to East Bay communities and beyond. Patrons and library staff refer to the Barrington Times for local history and events, and the online database will make finding and retrieving information quicker and easier, providing simultaneous use of the collection and reaching a broad audience.

East Providence Public Library

Located in: City of East Providence

Website: East Providence Public Library

Project Title: Advancing Library Social Work Services

Grant Award: $26,130.00

Project Director: Meredith Bonds-Harmon, Library Director 

Advancing Library Social Work Services will enhance the library's social work program to increase social work outreach, promote community well-being, and provide essential resources to patrons in need. The library will expand the current social work position while introducing a second position under its supervision and also establish a self-serve basic needs storage cabinet within the library, aimed at providing food, toiletries and basic health supplies to patrons who need them.

Exeter Public Library 

Located in: Town of Exeter

Website: Exeter Public Library 

Project Title: Growing Rhode Island Native Seeds 

Grant Award: $15,195.00

Project Director: Tien Tran, Library Director

Grow RI Native Seeds (GRINS) will develop a self-sustaining native seed growing and sharing program administered by thirteen libraries in the Ocean State Libraries consortium. Via GRINS libraries, residents will have access to seeds as well as educational resources, including programs and activities, that will empower them to grow, harvest, and share native seeds. Through network and collaboration, GRINS libraries will be equipped to collect and champion native seeds, with the goal of achieving a robust, ongoing stock of homegrown native seeds and related information resources that are freely available to all residents.

Jesse M. Smith Memorial Library

Located in: Town of Burrillville

Website: Jesse M. Smith Memorial Library

Project Title: Burrillville Historic Newspapers Digitization

Grant Award: $11,690.50

Project Director: Beth Ullucci, Library Director 

The Burrillville Historic Newspapers Digitization Project seeks to digitize 31 bound volumes and approximately 2,000 loose newspaper pages to provide a keyword searchable online newspaper archive accessible from the library's website. Newspapers included are the Pascoag Herald and Burrillville News-Gazette ranging from 1880 to 1918.

Community Libraries of Providence 

Located in: City of Providence

Website: Community Libraries of Providence

Project Title: Bibliodiversity 2024

Grant Award: $27,500.00

Project Director: Cheryl Space, Library Director

The Community Libraries of Providence and Wild Lives' project Bibliodiversity 2024 aims to create a scalable program for engaging children with local nature in public libraries through programming, community building, and technology infrastructure. The initiative includes expanding nature walks, organizing nature clubs, and implementing interactive nature stations and mini-exhibits in six Providence library locations to connect families with a shared interest in nature and provide resources for children to explore the natural world.

West Warwick Public Library

Located in: Town of West Warwick

Website: West Warwick Public Library

Project Title: Mind and Body Wellness for All

Grant Award: $12,760.00

Project Director: Colin McCullough, Library Director 

Mind and Body Wellness for All will enrich existing programs for youth and adults by growing the participation of patrons of all abilities and incorporating an interactive projection system to stimulate cognitive activity, promote social interaction, and encourage physical movement. The library will focus on further integrating youth and adults with developmental disabilities into the library community as a whole through a combination of popular exercise and sensory programming that is healthful, stimulating, and fun.

Woonsocket Harris Public Library

Located in: City of Woonsocket

Website: Woonsocket Harris Public Library

Project Title: Woonsocket Community Conservator

Grant Award: $27,500.00

Project Director: Margaret McNulty, Assistant Director 

The Woonsocket Harris Public Library aims to safeguard and enhance access to the City of Woonsocket's cultural heritage by identifying, repairing, and preserving damaged resources in its local history reference collection. The project also involves transferring recent printed editions of the local newspaper onto microfilm, improving access to library-use-only materials, building library resources for disaster preparedness, and promoting community engagement through conservation as a focal point.