| FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
September 16, 2008
IMLS Press Contacts 202-653-4632
Jeannine Mjoseth, jmjoseth@imls.gov
Mamie Bittner, mbittner@imls.gov
IMLS Awards $2.4
Million to Native American and Native Hawaiian Libraries
Grants to Fund Library Enhancements
Washington, DC—Anne-Imelda
M. Radice, Ph.D., Director of The Institute of Museum
and Library Services (IMLS) announced today that 15 Native
American tribal communities and Alaska Native villages
will receive $1,894,281 in Native American Library Services
Enhancement grants, and that Alu Like, Inc. is the recipient
of the Native Hawaiian Library Services grant totaling
$510,500. Click
here to see a full list of Enhancement grant recipients.
“I commend the tribes awarded
this year’s Native American Library Services Enhancement
Grants,” said Dr. Radice. “By applying for
and receiving this funding, these tribes have made the
commitment to build upon their existing library services
and implement new initiatives to continually adapt to
the needs of their communities. The Native Hawaiian Library
Services grant awarded today also provides for continued
and enhanced library services to the Native Hawaiian population.”
This year, Native American Library Services
Enhancement Grants will fund projects including:
- the implementation of expanded and enhanced library
services for senior and disabled tribal members of the
Keweenaw Bay Indian Community;
- the development of programming at the Yerington Paiute
Tribe’s Learning Center focused on tribal culture
and history, information literacy, and job development
skills;
- the creation of personal, culturally-based books by
Makah Indian Tribe Head Start students and “Makah
Memories” scrapbooks by tribal elders in the community;
and
- the initiation of a “Treasures in the Attic”
project by the Sitka Tribe of Alaska to digitize, translate,
and transcribe Tlingit audio and video recordings to
make them accessible in the library and online.
With its Native Hawaiian Library Services
grant, the Alu Like, Inc.’s Native Hawaiian Library
will open two new satellite library sites on Oahu and
offer literacy programs in all eight satellite sites;
initiate a pilot oral history project with kupuna (elders)
as a first step toward an Oral History Center; and continue
after-school tutoring programs to provide homework assistance
and reading development help for at-risk students.
The next deadline for Native
American Library Services Enhancement Grant applications
is May 1, 2009. The next deadline for Native
Hawaiian Library Services grant applications is May
15, 2009. Please contact Senior Program Officer Alison
Freese at 202-653-4665 or afreese@imls.gov
with any questions.
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