Sarah Comly Norris Bogle was a prominent U.S. librarian who made notable contributions to the field of children's work, international library service, and library education. From 1923 to 1929, she directed the Paris Library School, demonstrating what a school with an international character could contribute to the library profession. She frequently represented the American Library Association abroad at meetings of international library significance. One of the most widely known and popular ALA members of her generation, Bogle was assistant secretary of ALA at the time of her death in 1932. In recognition of Sarah Bogle's international activities, her friends wished the Bogle fund's income to support an international-study fellowship which would enable the U.S. and Canadian librarians to study abroad and non-Canadian international librarians to study in the United States or Canada.
In 1982, the ALA Executive Board directed that the interest from the Sarah C.N. Bogle Fund no longer be used to send to library conferences promising international students not eligible for assistance from the Asia Foundation Grants; that the interest from the Sarah C.N. Bogle Memorial fund be used for annual grants to enable a member or members of the American Library Association to attend an international conference for the first time; that the name of the fund emphasize its original intent by changing its name from the Sarah C.N. Bogle Memorial Fund to the Bogle International Library Travel Fund.
Criteria listed by the committee include the nature and extent of the applicant's participation in the conference and the relevance of the conference to the applicant's current job responsibilities or research interests.
Grant results will be announced after the ALA Midwinter Meeting.