YALSA opens up 2015 summer reading and teen intern grant applications

CHICAGO – The Young Adult Library Services Association (YALSA), a division of the American Library Association (ALA), has opened up the applications for its 2015 summer reading and teen intern grants.

Through generous funding from the Dollar General Literacy Foundation, two grants are available, the Summer Reading Resources Grant and the Teen Summer Intern Program Grant. The purpose of the grants are to help libraries combat the summer slide.

Twenty summer reading resources grants, worth $1000 each, will be awarded to libraries in need that will allow them to purchase resources that better equip them to serve struggling readers and/or teens who are English language learners. Twenty teen summer intern program grants, also worth $1000 each, will be awarded to libraries to support the implementation of summer reading/learning programs while also providing teens a chance to build hand-on job skills.

Interested applicants are invited to apply for the grants if they meet the following eligibility requirements:

• Must be a YALSA member at the time the application is submitted
• Summer reading/learning program must be administered through a library
• Summer reading/learning program must be open to all teens in your community
• Must work directly with teens
• Library must be within 20 miles of a Dollar General store

Eligible applicants can apply now through Jan. 1, 2015. Recipients will be notified during the week of Feb. 16, 2015. For information about joining YALSA, visit www.ala.org/yalsa/join

To learn more about how the grants support summer reading/learning programs, view a brief video featuring past grantees. To learn more about the grants and to apply, please visit our Summer Reading & Learning website.

For years, the Dollar General Literacy Foundation has provided Youth Literacy Grants to schools, public libraries, and nonprofit organizations in hopes to provide assistance in implementing and expanding literacy programs for youth. For more information about Dollar General and its Youth Literacy Grants, visit www.dollargeneral.com.

For more than 50 years, YALSA has worked to build the capacity of libraries and librarians to engage, serve and empower teens. For more information about YALSA or to access national guidelines and other resources go to www.ala.org/yalsa, or contact the YALSA office by phone, (800) 545-2433, ext. 4390, or e-mail, yalsa@ala.org.