Books for Children Program

Posted by on May 17, 2010

Libri Foundation Accepting Applications for Books for Children Program
Deadline: August 15, 2010

The Libri Foundation is a nationwide nonprofit organization that donates new, quality hardcover children’s books to small, rural public libraries in the United States through its Books for Children program.

Only libraries within the fifty states are eligible to apply. Libraries are qualified on an individual basis. In general, county libraries should serve a population under 16,000, and town libraries should serve a population under 10,000 (usually under 5,000). Libraries should be in a rural area, have a limited operating budget, and an active children’s department. “Rural” is usually considered to be at least thirty miles from a city with a population over40,000.

Applications are accepted from independent libraries as well as libraries that are part of a county, regional, or cooperative library system. A library system may also apply if all the libraries in the system meet the eligibility requirements. Applications are accepted from school libraries only if they also serve as the public library (i.e., it is open to everyone in the community, has some summer hours, and there is no public library in town).

Town libraries with total operating budgets over $150,000 and county libraries with total operating budgets over $350,000 are rarely given grants. The average total operating budget of a Books for Children grant recipient is less than $40,000.

Complete program guidelines are available at the Libri Foundation Web site.

http://www.librifoundation.org/apps.html