Applying for a Picturing America Programming Grant
Note: The application deadline was April 26, 2010. All applicants were notified of their award status via email by June 1.
The following instructions will help you complete your application. With questions, please contact the ALA Public Programs Office at publicprograms@ala.org or 312-280-5045.
Registration
In order to apply for the Picturing America programming grant, you must first create a profile
. For this step, you need only enter a valid email address (for communication regarding your application) and select a password. After you create your account, you will be redirected to the main application page.
Library Information and Program Description
On this page, you will be prompted to enter information about your library and your proposed Picturing America program. At any time, you may save your work by clicking the “Save” button at the bottom of the screen.
Library Information
In addition to your library’s address and phone number, you must also provide:
- the US congressional district in which your library is located (a link is provided to a page where you can look up your congressional district by zipcode);
- the approximate size of the population your library serves, selected from one of the following options: 25,000 or less; 25,000–100,000; or greater than 100,000
If your library is located in a state with a single “At-Large” congressional district, please enter 1 in this field.
Program Information
Please provide as much information as possible about the Picturing America program or program series you are proposing. Specifically, you will be asked to address the following:
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The Picturing America round in which your library was selected. This may be 2007, 2008, or 2009. In case you’re not sure which round your library was selected in, a link is provided to the NEH Picturing America Web site. From this site, you can look up your library
and determine in which round your library was selected. If your library has not received a Picturing America grant from NEH, please select "N/A" from the pull down menu. -
Your program’s target audience. Indicate if your program will target adults, children, teens, or family/intergenerational audiences. Please select all that apply.
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Program title and narrative. Provide a title for your proposed program, and a comprehensive narrative description. Use your program narrative to tell us about the following in 900 words or less. Note: This content may be prepared using word processing software, then copied and pasted into the online application. Because the narrative field only allows plain text, any formatting will be lost.
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Explain your proposed program plans. Include overall goals, description of target audience, schedule of events, and information about featured scholars, speakers or presenters.
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Potential impact. Describe how the program will deepen public knowledge, understanding, and appreciation of American art and/or history. Also describe the desired impact on the library and community.
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Use of the Picturing America collection. Address how your program or program series will use, be informed by, or otherwise highlight the Picturing America artwork collection
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Promotional plans. Describe how you will attract your target audience and recruit program participants. Be sure to list any community partners and describe how the partnership will extend the program’s reach and impact.
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Use of grant funds. Provide detailed information about how the $2,000 programming grant will be used. Allowable expenses include scholar honoraria, speaker/presenter fees, promotional expenses, audiovisual needs, books/collection development, print materials, refreshments.
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Evaluative plan. Describe your plans to determine how well the program met its goals and objectives.
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Your program’s budget information. Use these fields to provide us with your budget breakdown. Three kinds of expenditures are allowed: fees for scholars, speakers and presenters; promotional expenses; and support costs, including (but not limited to) A/V equipment, books/collection development, print materials and refreshments. Please include information about specific expenditures in your program narrative. The dollar values in these fields must total $2,000 in order for you to proceed.
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Optional donations or matching funds. If you are receiving in-kind or matching donations from another source, you may include that information here. You will be prompted to enter both the dollar amount and a brief, one-sentence description of the source. This information is optional.
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Availability for 2011 ALA Annual Conference. In April 2011, ALA staff will review final reports and select five librarians to present information about their programming experiences at the ALA Annual Conference in New Orleans, June 23–29, 2011. A $1,500 travel stipend will be provided to those selected to participate. If you would like to be considered as a presenter, click the checkbox in this section. Participation is optional.
When you have completed this section of the application, click “Proceed” to move on to the next screen. If there are problems with your application, e.g., if the narrative exceeds 900 words or the budget lines do not sum to $2,000, you will be prompted to correct those sections before moving on to the next screen.
Supporting Documents and Authorization
On this page, you may:
- upload supporting documents, including letters of support from partner organizations and biographies/CVs of scholars and program presenters; and
- certify your application and submit it for consideration.
As on the previous page, you may save your work at any time using the “Save” button at the bottom of the page. You may also return to the previous screen to edit your information using the link provided. (You must save your work using the “Save” button before returning to the previous screen, or your changes will be lost.)
Supporting Documents
To upload a supporting document, click the button labeled “Choose File.” Your browser will present a file dialog box, from which you may select a file to upload from your hard drive. Once you have selected the file, click “OK.” The filename will now show up next to the “Choose File” button. To upload the file, click “Upload.” Supporting documents should be no more than 1 megabyte in size, and should be submitted as Word or PDF files. We cannot guarantee that files in other formats will be considered. You may upload as many supporting documents as you like. This step is optional, but strongly recommended in order to demonstrate the potential for community impact, as well as establish the appropriateness and excellence of speakers and presenters.
Authorization and certification
When you have finished uploading supporting documents, you must provide the name and title of the authorizing official for this application, and acknowledge the given terms by clicking the provided checkbox. We cannot accept any application that does not include this certification.
Submitting Your Application
At this point, please review your application. Once your application is submitted, you will be able to view and print it, but you will not be able to make any changes. When you are you satisfied with your application, you may submit it to ALA by clicking the “Submit” button. Please note that we cannot consider any application that has not been submitted. You must click this button in order to be eligible for the Picturing America programming grant.
All Finished!
Once your application is submitted, your work is complete. You may still log in to the application site to view and/or print a copy of your application. If you have any questions, or run into any difficulty using the site, please contact the ALA Public Programs Office at 312-280-5045, or by email at publicprograms@ala.org.