Other ULC member libraries that are National Leadership and Sparks! grant recipients include the Hartford Public Library's Hartford History Center (CT) which will create "Find Your Voice" in collaboration with the Digital Media Center at the University of Connecticut; the Allen County Public Library (IN) will use its grant to increase adult awareness of the importance of the development of young children's early literacy skills; and the Las Vegas Clark County Library District will conduct research to uncover patterns, motivations, and interests of today's public library customers and accelerate the adoption of customer data mining to improve public library practice.

Knight News Challenge on Libraries

 The Knight Foundation's News Challenge on Libraries is underway.  Proposals for grant funds totaling $2.5 million are being accepted now through September 30.  San Jose Public Library Director (and ULC Executive Board Member) Jill Bourne outlines her vision for the kind of innovative proposals that are being sought.

Free for All: Inside the Public Library

ULC is in partnership with Serendipity Films to complete production of "Free For All," a documentary film intended to be aired on PBS in fall 2016, celebrating the critical role which public libraries play in meeting the goals of a 21^st century democracy. The producers of "Free for All" launched a Kickstarter fundraising campaign to raise resources needed to complete the film. The Emmy-Award winning team of producers leading this project includes Producer/Director Dawn Logsdon and Executive Producer Stanley Nelson, a MacArthur "genius award" recipient.  

Looking for Movers and Shakers

Library Journal is looking for the next generation of library leaders. Nominees for the 2015 roster of "Movers and Shakers" will be accepted through November 7, 2014 with honorees to be announced in March 2015.  The annual "Movers and Shakers" competition honors emerging library leaders who are "...innovative, creative and making a difference."

Preserving Memories of Crisis

Colorado's Pikes Peak Library District is a 2014 Top Innovator for its archival efforts to collect and preserve historical information about the horrific fires that took place in the Colorado Springs area during the spring of 2014. The Waldo Canyon Fire Digital Collection contains reports, press releases, photographs, videos, oral-history interviews and hand-written personal stories.  Because the documentation was "born digital," the process challenged library staff to think deeply about their approach to archival work in the 21^st century.

Read more about their approach to this historic challenge.

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Free Library of Philadelphia Foundation Receives Major Grant

The Free Library of Philadelphia is the recipient of a $25 million grant from the William Penn Foundation, the largest gift in its 125-year history. The funds will be used to finance ongoing restoration of the Library's Parkway Central Library as well as renovations of neighborhood branch libraries.  In total, the grant will be applied towards the Library's $40 million "Building Inspiration" campaign to tailor branch libraries to meet the needs of specific communities.