ALISE Community conn@CT Mini-Grants

Funder: Association for Library and Information Science Education (ALISE)

The ALISE Community conn@CT Mini-Grants program supports ALISE members in addressing library and information needs of social justice organizations through collaborative community engagement. Each grant offers $750 to foster innovative solutions that can enhance teaching, research, and practice. The initiative encourages proposals focused on social justice and community involvement, promoting the development of impactful projects that can serve as models for progressive action in Library and Information Science (LIS).

About ALISE
ALISE (Association for Library and Information Science Education) is a non-profit organization that serves as the intellectual home of faculty, staff, and students in library and information science, and allied disciplines. We promote innovation and excellence internationally through leadership, collaboration, advocacy, and dissemination of scholarship.
Background
The ALISE Community conn@CT began as a space at the 2015 ALISE Conference and centennial celebration, for ALISE members to connect with social justice organizations and each other to create and innovate solutions to advance their mission. The idea arose out of brainstorming and initial development by Kendra Albright, Clara M. Chu, Nicole Cooke, Bharat Mehra, Gwendolyn Prellwitz, and Tonyia J. Tidline. Rae-­Anne Montague, then, organized and moderated the ALISE Community conn@CT conference session that included the participation of the following four Chicago community organizations:

• Gerber/Hart Library and Archives
• Inspiration Corporation
• South Side Community Art Center
• Teen Living Programs

A competitive mini-­grant program was designed to advance the ALISE Community conn@CT initiative. The ALISE Community conn@CT mini-grants ($750) support ALISE members to address a library and information need of a social justice organization through community engagement (in a collaborative manner).
Selection Criteria
The ALISE Community conn@CT Mini-grants provide funding to support ALISE members to connect with social justice organizations and each other to create and innovate information solutions to advance their mission or address an information need. The solution may be in the form of LIS research, teaching and/or practice.
The criteria used in selecting mini-grant winners are:

• Relevance of project to mini-­grant program
• Scope or extent of community engagement
• Significance of project to an organization or organizations doing social justice work
• Impact on practice, teaching, and/or research
• Potential for serving as a model for progressive community action in LIS

The recipients are encouraged to attend the ALISE Conference to receive the award and present their project in a poster presentation at the ALISE Conference. All costs of conference registration and travel will be the responsibility of the grant recipients.

Eligibility

ALISE members are invited to submit a proposal that will use a community-engaged approach to address a library and information need of a social justice organization. The proposed project may be focused on research, teaching (service learning), and/or practice/application (e.g., resource development, training, program, etc.).
You must be a member of this organization to apply for this award - become a member.