Support ALA's Cultural Communities Fund

Libraries are champions of lifelong learning — places to quench curiosities, access technology, and explore new ideas, hobbies and careers.

Cultural Communities Fund: Enriching Lives through Library ProgramsBut extraordinary library programs — the type of library programs our communities need and deserve — require funding and training that some libraries struggle to afford.

Created by the American Library Association’s Public Programs Office in 2004 with a challenge grant from the National Endowment for the Humanities; the endowment has since grown to $3.2 million. Cultural Communities Fund (CCF) supports excellence and innovation in community-focused library programming through grants, awards, and professional development, and helps to fund the Libraries Transform Communities Engagement Grant, Peggy Barber Tribute Grant, and the Sara Jaffarian Library Program Award

How can I support the Cultural Communities Fund?

Please join our network of CCF supporters — including more than 500 library professionals, foundations and corporations — by making a tax-deductible contribution today. You can designate your gift to support a specific grant or award (listed below) or you can give an unrestricted gift, and we will use your donation where it is needed most.


Libraries Transform Communities Engagement Grant

donate buttonThe Libraries Transform Communities Engagement Grant is an annual grant to recognize, promote, and support innovative and meaningful community engagement efforts in libraries. Community engagement is the process of working collaboratively with community members – be they library patrons, residents, faculty, students, or local organizations – to address issues for the betterment of the community. 

The Libraries Transform Communities Engagement Grant was made possible by former ALA president and longtime generous supporter Nancy Kranich, with additional contributions raised by solicitations and a matching opportunity in 2017. Read about the 2021 winner, Albany (N.Y.) Public Library.

To designate your gift in support of the Libraries Transform Communities Engagement Grant, please click "Add a tribute or memorial to my donation" when donating online and enter "LTCEG."


Peggy Barber Tribute Grant

donate buttonThe Peggy Barber Tribute Grant is an annual programming grant named after Margaret "Peggy" Barber, a transformative leader in ALA and the library field who was behind the creation of National Library Week and the Celebrity READ series. The $2,500 grant is open to public, academic, K-12, tribal and special libraries and helps to support meaningful programs with limited programming budgets. 

The Peggy Barber Tribute Grant was made possible by friends and colleagues of Peggy, who donated to CCF in her name after she passed away in 2019.

To designate your gift in support of the Peggy Barber Tribute Grant, please click "Add a tribute or memorial to my donation" when donating online and enter "Peggy Barber."

 


Sara Jaffarian School Library Program Award

donate buttonThe Sara Jaffarian School Library Program Award recognizes excellence in humanities programming in libraries that serve children in grades K-8.

The $5,000 award, which recognizes the late school librarian Sara Jaffarian, is presented annually by the ALA Public Programs Office in cooperation with the American Association of School Librarians (AASL). Read about the 2020 winner, Batesville (Ind.) Intermediate School.

To designate your gift in support of the Jaffarian Award, please click "Add a tribute or memorial to my donation" when donating online and enter "Jaffarian."

 


Unrestricted Gifts

donate buttonWith the generosity of individual and corporate donors, the Cultural Communities Fund has grown to $3 million, providing crucial support for:

  • grants and awards, including those listed above, that recognize excellence and promote innovation
  • professional development opportunities, both in-person and online, for library workers at libraries of all types
  • ProgrammingLibrarian.org, ALA's online community dedicated to library programs

Your unrestricted gift allows ALA to support the above areas in the ways that are needed most at this time.


This page is brought to you by the American Library Association’s Public Programs Office. If you have questions about donating to the Cultural Communities Fund, please email us at publicprograms@ala.org. Thank you for your support!