LTC: Focus on Small and Rural Libraries Site Support Notebook - Communicating about Your Grant

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Getting the community involved is key to success in community engagement! With this in mind, ALA has created the following communications templates to help spread the word in your community. You are not required to use these materials, but you are encouraged to. If you prefer to write your own announcements, please see below for credit requirements.

Read ALA's press release announcing the Round 1 libraries here. (Published Jan. 5, 2021)

Read ALA's press release announcing the Round 2 libraries here. (Published April 15, 2021)

Read ALA's press release announcing the Round 3 libraries here. (Published November 4, 2021)

Ready-Made Templates/Graphics

Announcing Your Grant

The following templates can be used to share the news that you have received an LTC: Focus on Small & Rural Libraries grant and to briefly explain your plans. You can distribute these any time after ALA announces the grant.

Inviting People to Your Conversation

The following templates can be used to invite people to participate in your conversation or get involved in your LTC work. You can distribute these whenever you are ready, but you should try to give people several weeks’ notice to attend a conversation. Per the grant guidelines, conversations must take place between February 1, 2021 and July 31, 2021 for Round 1 grantees; between May 1, 2021 and October 31, 2021 for Round 2 grantees; and between December 1, 2021 and May 31, 2022 for Round 3 grantees.

  • Email invitation: Use this casual email template to invite people to attend your conversation or learn more
  • Media alert: Use this template to invite representatives of the media to attend your conversation, or submit it to the media so they can add it to the calendar section of their website/publication
  • Social media posts: Use these templates to invite people to your conversation on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram or other social media channels

Reporting and Sharing Out about Your Conversation

Per the grant guidelines, you are asked to share information about the content/outcomes of the conversation in at least one of the following ways.

  • Write a letter to a local newspaper or other media outlet or post it to the library's social media
  • Create a video and post it to the library’s YouTube, Facebook, or other social media account
  • Write and send a letter or email to a state legislator or other elected official about the library's community engagement effort
  • Create a library blog or podcast about issues discussed during the conversation or the process itself
  • Use PLA’s Project Outcome Civic/Community Engagement or ACRL’s Project Outcome Events & Programs areas to collect and share feedback about the conversation with community leaders

Printable Materials

Graphics

Add these graphics to your library’s website or social media channels when talking about your LTC work. If you need graphics in a different file type or size, please email publicprograms@ala.org.

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Creating Your Own Communications

If the above templates do not meet your needs, you are welcome to create your own materials, provided they include the proper logos/acknowledgements. As a general rule, any materials you create related to your LTC work (e.g., press releases, media alerts, webpages, invitations, flyers, posters, bookmarks) should include a “nod” to ALA.

Logos: Note: Grant recipients are authorized to use logos only for LTC: Focus on Small & Rural Libraries project purposes for the duration of the grant.

Acknowledgement statement: “Libraries Transforming Communities: Focus on Small and Rural Libraries is an initiative of the American Library Association (ALA) in collaboration with the Association for Rural & Small Libraries (ARSL).”

On some pieces (e.g., a large poster), you will find it easy to include both the logos and acknowledgement. Other pieces (e.g., bookmarks or graphics for social media) may be too small to include both. In that case, one or the other is sufficient.

You do not need to obtain additional permissions, but you are welcome to email publicprograms@ala.org with any questions.

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