Grants Supporting E-Government Services in Libraries

Note: As of July 2016, the E-Government Toolkit is no longer updated.

Increased E-government services require supplemental funding for most libraries. Successful grants involve community analysis, identifying needs and funding sources as well as developing and marketing Library E-Government services and programs to increase access to E-Government information and resources for the public. The following outline provides a guide to sources of potential funding at different levels. After determining needs for providing or expanding E-Government services, libraries should begin by identifying funding sources and learning about their requirements and deadlines.

Examples of Federal Funding Sources

Examples of State Funding Sources

  • Library Services and Technology Act (LSTA) – Funding through State Library Agencies; e.g. Florida State Library LSTA grants
  • State Government E-Government Grants for Local Governments
  • State Emergency Management Agencies
  • Training Grants
    • University Scholarships in E-Government
    1. Government Information in the 21st Century (IMLS Funded)

    Examples of Local Funding

    1. Municipal Special Projects
    2. Community Development Funds

    Examples of Foundations

    1. Robert Wood Johnson Foundation
    2. Foundation Center
    3. Community Foundations

    Sample Projects

    1. Training for staff and the public on E-Government resources
    2. Increasing bandwidth
    3. Programs targeting employment, education, financial and citizenship goals
    4. Civic engagement opportunities
    5. Collaborations with local government
    6. Creating models to strengthen public library capacity to work effectively with government agencies
    7. Library and Information Science education curriculum projects to train library staff in the use of E-Government resources
    8. Web portals for E-Government services
    9. Digitization projects

    Examples of successful E-Government grants

    1. Pasco County E-Gov Initiatives Grant
    2. Mass Board of Library Commissioners: Libraries as DRCs (Disaster Recovery Centers.)
    3. University of Maryland-College Park IMLS National Leadership Grant to create a model to strengthen public libraries capacity to work effectively with government agencies.
    4. University of Colorado at Boulder Library IMLS Laura Bush 21st Century Librarian Program to create a multistate, multitype library training program that will train reference and public service librarians in the use of electronic federal government information resources.
    5. University of Illinois Library Research Center IMLS National Leadership Grants for Libraries to investigate how effectively public libraries and community technology centers provide government information to people with limited access to the Internet.
    6. State LSTA grants have encouraged the promotion and growth of E-Government services.
    7. Organizations like the International City Management Association (ICMA) have programs that support partnership projects with public libraries.
  • Information on how to write grants and funding sources is available from the Foundation Center.
    1. Valuable resources are available through the Center’s website and in its five regional library/learning centers and national network of more than 400 funding information centers at libraries, nonprofit resource centers, and organizations in every U.S. state, Puerto Rico, Mexico, South Korea, Thailand, and Nigeria. The Center’s online subscription database, Foundation Directory Online, provides detailed information about more than 95,000 U.S. foundations and corporate donors and 1.7 million grants. It can be used free of charge on site at all Center locations and Cooperating Collections (http://fconline.foundationcenter.org/)
    2. Established in 1956 and today supported by close to 600 foundations, the Foundation Center is a national nonprofit service organization recognized as the nation’s leading authority on organized philanthropy, connecting nonprofits and the grantmakers supporting them to tools and information they can use. Its audiences include grantseekers, grantmakers, researchers, policymakers, the media, and the general public. The Center maintains the most comprehensive database on U.S. grantmakers and their grants; issues a wide variety of print, electronic, and online information resources; conducts and publishes research on trends in foundation growth, giving, and practice; and offers an array of free and affordable educational programs.