Home  Grow Your Own @ Your Library Institutional Scholarship

Grow Your Own @ Your Library Institutional Scholarship

To submit an application for this award, visit PLA's Awards Online Application.

PROGRAM BACKGROUND

This program was developed by the Public Library Association (PLA), a division of the American Library Association (ALA) to address the education needs of public library staff working toward the ultimate goal of obtaining a Master’s degree in library and information science. This program is intended to assist public library staff members who are working toward securing a library degree by awarding funds to the employing public  library for reimbursement of employee(s) course tuition costs at the undergraduate or graduate level.  PLA recognizes that the institution is strategically positioned to best identify those employees with a commitment to librarianship, public libraries and the institution/community. 

PLA will provide nine public libraries with a lump sum of $8,000 each to be distributed to as many of their employees as they choose for the purpose of working toward obtaining  an MLS-- $6,500 is to be used directly for payment of tuition at an ALA-accredited library school; $1,500 is to be used to support attendance for one or more of the selected scholarship recipients to attend a PLA-sponsored CE event such as the 2009 PLA Spring Symposium.   One library from each of the nine PLDS size categories will be selected.  The categories are:
Group 1            Service population of 1 million and over
Group 2            Service population of 500,000-999,999
Group 3            Service population of 250,000-499,999
Group 4            Service population of 100,000-249,999
Group 5            Service population of 50,000-99,999
Group 6            Service population of 25,000-49,999
Group 7            Service population of 10,000-24,999
Group 8            Service population of 5,000-9,999
Group 9            Service population under 5,000

PROGRAM GOAL

The primary goal of this program is to increase the number of public librarians.  The program will accomplish this by providing funds to institutions to enable them to “grow their own” librarians from among select employees within their staffs.    A corollary of the program will be the development of successful models for growing your own that can be shared with and implemented by the public library community. 

INSTITUTIONAL ELIGIBILITY CRITERIA

The applying institution must be a public library located in the United States and duly established and recognized under state law.  The application must be completed by a member of the institution staff, typically the library director or designated staff.  Applications may not be submitted by board members, trustees or other library volunteers.  When awards are made, the selected libraries will be required to sign a letter of agreement outlining responsibilities and deadlines.  That document is to be signed by the legally authorized library staff representative and the library board president. 

The applying institution (or its governing body) must be able to accept and administer the scholarship on behalf of the employee(s) as outlined in the Administration of Funds and Reporting Requirements portions of this document.  At least one of the employees receiving scholarship funds must be able to attend a PLA CE event as specified by the applying institution.

Awards will NOT be made to those libraries that have received PLA funding in the previous years for the institutional scholarship.    Previous award winners are not eligible. 

At the conclusion of the scholarship period, the applying institution must be prepared to provide information/share “lessons learned” with the public library community via PLA programming or publications.

SELECTION  CRITERIA AND NOTIFICATION

Scholarships will be made on a competitive basis.  Applications will undergo a review process by a committee appointed by the PLA president.  To insure fairness, phone calls or emails regarding this program will NOT be accepted.  Selected applicants will be informed via phone and/or email.  All others should check the PLA web page at www.pla.org in early February for application status.  There will be no notification to those applications not selected.  Applications will be reviewed and funds awarded based on the following criteria.

The applying public library will demonstrate the following:

• Meets institution eligibility criteria outlined above.
• Has an institutional commitment to “growing its own” by supporting employees who are working toward an ultimate goal of obtaining the master’s degree in library science, with a detailed plan on how the goal will be achieved (to be described in the “Grow Your Own Plan” submitted with the application.)
• Ability and resources to support and mentor employee(s) who receive funding from the award (to be described in “Grow Your Own Plan” submitted with the application)
• Ability and resources to administer funds as outlined in “Administration of Funds” of this document.
• Ability and resources to complete administrative/evaluation reports by the established timeline.  Reporting forms and information will be supplied to selected libraries at notification and acceptance of the award.
• Ability and resources to share “lessons learned” from this project with the public library community via PLA programs and/or publications.

TIME TABLE

August-November 2007 Applications accepted.  

December 3, 2007 Deadline for receipt of application at PLA.  Application must be emailed via the process outlined in online instructions. 

February 2008 Notification to Applicants of Acceptance.  Results will be posted to the PLA web page at www.pla.org in February.  If your library has not been contacted, check the web page for the announcement.  Those no accepted will not receive official notification of non-acceptance.   

Mid-February 2008 Funds released to institution

ADMINISTRATION OF FUNDS

Institutions that receive funds under this program are responsible for administering the tuition reimbursement and PLA CE funding to employees under whatever distribution system works best for them, so long as it adheres to the following conditions:

• The employee(s) completed the courses(s) within the authorized time period (by final report deadline of April 15, 2010).
• The employees(s) provided the institution with original print verification of the course/tuition paid and the employee(s) received a minimum course grade (based upon and A-F grading scale), of “B” of if application, a “credit” for a credit/no-credit course.  “Incompletes” do not qualify for reimbursement.
• The employee(s) designated have participated in PLA CE programming at total cost of $1,500 to the institution.  CE funds may be split among one or as many of the designated employees as the institution wishes.
• Proof of the above (Items 1-3) must be supplied to PLA no later than April 15, 2010.  Documentation must include:  receipt for tuition fees paid and printed student transcript including grade received, list of employees who participated in PLA CE programs/events.  Institutions that fail to provide documentation for all tuition expended and satisfactory completion of coursework ($6,500 total) by the deadline are required to reimburse PLA for unspent/undocumented funds.  A letter of agreement must be signed by the authorizing individual at the library to this effect. 

REPORTING REQUIREMENTS

Institutions that receive funding will be required to submit regular reports as outlined previously.  Report forms will be made available upon acceptance of award.

Additionally, institutions that receive funding will be required to complete a project evaluation at the conclusion of the program. 

Institutions that receive funding will also be expected to share the models and best practices they developed during the course of the award period through publications and/or programming at the local, state or national levels.   

NOTE:  Failure to follow these instructions, or incomplete reporting will result in automatic disqualification of your application.  No exceptions to this rule will be allowed.

To submit an application for this award, visit PLA's Awards Online Application.

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