New grant opportunity from NEH, ALA Public Programs Office supports Picturing America programs in public libraries

Contact: Angela Thullen
Program Officer, Communications
312-280-5286

NEWS
For Immediate Release
January 19, 2010

CHICAGO – The ALA Public Programs Office and the National Endowment for the Humanities are announcing a new grant opportunity for public libraries that received the NEH’s Picturing America collection of American artwork. Grants of $2,000 will be distributed to 30 public libraries to support public programs that highlight the Picturing America collection. Applications will be accepted Jan. 15 – March 31 at www.programminglibrarian.org/picturingamerica

To be eligible, the proposed program or program series must feature humanities content and include use of the Picturing America collection. All programs must take place July 1, 2010 – Jan. 31, 2011 and be open to public audiences. Some examples of eligible programs include: scholarly lectures, panel discussions, reading and discussion series, film viewing and discussion, poetry programs and exhibits. In June 2010, the National Endowment for the Humanities will announce the 30 libraries selected to receive the programming grants.

Libraries can find programming ideas and the online application at www.programminglibrarian.org/picturingamerica.
Picturing America, an initiative of the National Endowment for the Humanities, has provided masterpieces of American art to more than 50,000 classrooms and libraries nationwide. Through the program, students and citizens gain a deeper appreciation of our country’s history and character through the study and understanding of its art. For more information about Picturing America, including a list of the schools and libraries selected to participate, visit http://picturingamerica.neh.gov.

The ALA Public Programs Office promotes cultural and community programming as an essential part of library service in all types and sizes of libraries. Successful library programming initiatives have included “Let’s Talk About It” reading and discussion series, traveling exhibitions, film discussion programs, the Great Stories CLUB, Live! @ your library and more. Recently, the ALA Public Programs Office developed www.ProgrammingLibrarian.org, an online resource center bringing librarians timely and valuable information to support them in the creation of high-quality cultural programs for their communities. For more information on the ALA Public Programs Office, visit www.ala.org/publicprograms.