LSTA Grants for Public Libraries: LSTA Continuing Education Grants

CE Grants for conferences and classes taking place August 2022 through August 2023 are OPEN. 

Note on mileage reimbursement: For grants with travel that includes mileage (driving a car instead of flying), the rate of reimbursement is 62.5 cents/mile.  

1.  Applications will be accepted for conferences and multi-session online or in-person courses. One-time webinars or one-session classes will not be funded at this time. See the guidelines for award amounts.

2. CE grants are available only for staff in public libraries in the current grant cycle. No grants are available for academic or school librarians in FFY22.

Why attend conferences? We all like to travel and see new places; but how useful are conferences for library staff?

The South Carolina State library believes that encouraging library staff to take part in gatherings of library professionals at the state and national level will result in better informed, more enthusiastic, more highly skilled library workers. Conferences can excite and motivate, inform and enlighten. Conferences help expand library worker’s understanding of and currency with library trends and practices. They provide an opportunity to attend sessions that will contribute to the employee’s skills and knowledge base. Conferences allow library staff to network and enlarge their contact with colleagues statewide and nationwide.

Conference-going is not a frill, but a necessary element in the continuing education of library staff. The State Library’s goal is to create channels through which library workers can communicate the excitement and the experience of going to a conference, and share what was learned with colleagues and co-workers, leading to overall improvement in services to library users.

There are conferences designed for just about every kind of library worker. For public library staff, the biggies on the national scene are “ALA” and “PLA” – that is, the American Library Association Conference, held annually, and the Public Library Association Conference which occurs every other year. PLA tends to be smaller and more focused on issues that interest public library workers. ALA has something for every kind of librarian!

Check our listing for upcoming conferences you may be interested in attending in the box to the right.

Grants of Library Services and Technology Act (LSTA) funds are available for library staff wishing to expand their professional knowledge by attending a professional conference such as SCLA, PLA, or ALA. Reimbursement of related expenses is available for conference attendance that allows librarians to develop, expand, deliver, or promote services and programs that are related to the six federal purposes.*

* The six Federal purposes as outlined in LSTA (20 U.S.C. 9141) are:

1. Expanding services for learning and access to information and educational resources in a variety of formats, in all types of libraries, for individuals of all ages;
   
   
2. Developing library services that provide all users with access to information through local, state, regional, national, and international electronic networks;
   
   
3. Providing electronic and other linkages among and between all types of libraries;
   
   
4. Developing public and private partnerships with other agencies and community-based organizations;
   
   
5. Targeting library services to individuals of diverse geographic, cultural, and socioeconomic backgrounds, to individuals with disabilities, and to individuals with limited functional literacy or information skills;
   
   
6. Targeting library and information services to persons having difficulty using a library and to underserved urban and rural communities, including children (from birth through age 17) from families with incomes below the poverty line.

For additional information on LSTA grants in South Carolina, contact the LSTA Coordinator, Alexandra Sanders, (803) 734-8917.

To submit a comment or complaint about the administration of LSTA grants, please contact the SCSL Director, Leesa Aiken, (803) 734-8668.

Check these current listings of upcoming conferences.