LSTA Grant Information

Awarded grants includes grants to partner organizations for statewide services and grants to support local community projects.

Awards to statewide library organizations are denoted with a *  

Statewide Programs

Statewide Programs are those with broad, statewide impact and are developed by the Library of NC in response to emerging or broad-based needs that are consistent with the LSTA plan and priorities.

#EverythingNC  project will increase the resources available via the Government & Heritage Library (GHL), grow public and state employee awareness of GHL resources, improve access to GHL’s online resources, facilitate K-12 primary source/historical resource use, and ensure preservation of digital materials. New items will be digitized for the NC Digital Collections; articles will be created and improved in both English and Spanish for NCpedia and ANCHOR (A NC History Online Resource). Translation of popular NCpedia collections into Spanish will support Spanish-speaking North Carolinians. New NCpedia resources for students and educators will be developed to support DNCR's Learning Happens Here initiative. Continued use of LibSafe will preserve government publications for the future.

Accelerating Audio Production with AI will support Accessible Books and Library Services staff to use AI text-to-speech testing and production on timely publications like announcements, training materials, and magazines. These materials have the most impact when provided quickly and will free up volunteer hours to complete book recordings.

Advancing Adult Learning and Digital Skills in Public Libraries will allow public library staff who support adults, older adults, and individuals returning to their communities after incarceration to receive training via Niche Academy.  Additionally library staff will have access to E-Rate training that will allow library to secure discounts for internet and technology services.

Continuing Education will support and provide professional development opportunities for library staff in order to improve services and access to resources in libraries throughout North Carolina. The Continuing Education program provides access to in-person and virtual learning opportunities and online resources that enhance library services and promote excellence and innovation. 

Data Dashboards access to library data to make data-informed decisions when serving their communities. Two of the dashboards are entirely focused on making public library data publicly available - the Public Libraries Survey and NC Cardinal dashboard. The third dashboard, Library Service Engagement, is also primarily geared toward library staff needs. This dashboard allows libraries to see various Library Development services, levels or engagement and even details about specific participants.

Five Year Evaluation and Planning will allow the Library of North Carolina to evaluate the past 3 years and create a new plan for the upcoming 2028-2032 period. Section 9134 (c) of IMLS’ authorizing legislation directs State Library Administrative Agencies (SLAAs) to “independently evaluate, and report to the Director regarding, the activities assisted under this subchapter, prior to the end of the 5-year plan.” This evaluation provides SLAAs an opportunity to measure progress in meeting the goals set in their approved Five-Year Plans with a framework to synthesize information across all state reports in telling a national story. 

Expanding Capabilities   provides continuing education and professional development/training for Library of NC staff. Professional development helps to strengthen the Library of NC’s capability to better serve and engage with libraries and the public across North Carolina. Staff at all levels need to grow their skills to ensure the Library of NC remains a central hub in enriching the lives of North Carolinians. 

Captioning Services for Patrons  ensure accessibility for the Library of NC programs and continuing education offerings by providing closed captions or sign language interpretation. These services enable individuals who have disabilities to access media content and promote equal participation for our audience.

NC Cardinal provides North Carolina residents with greater access to North Carolina resources by providing the tools, framework and expertise necessary to administer a common, online catalog, share catalog items among member libraries and expand opportunities for optimization of cost efficiencies and collaborative collection development. NC Cardinal seeks to improve resource sharing throughout the NC Cardinal consortium by conducting a consortium-wide assessment of resource sharing activities, focusing on the mechanisms and procedures used for resource sharing, analysis of the return on investment that a shared integrated library system and shared materials offer to Cardinal member libraries, and any possibilities for shared collection development.

New Director Orientation project will provide an orientation for North Carolina Public Library Directors who are new to their positions to share information on the services of the Library of NC, Library Development, Accessible Books and Library Services, Government Heritage Library, and other North Carolina partner agencies; and to provide opportunities of learning with other new directors.

Resource Ready will provide access to the LibGuides platform for the Library of NC, 58 community college libraries, and 90 public library systems across the state.  This platform allows library staff to easily create online content for users in a hosted environment. Additionally 90  public library systems across the state have access to the Northstar Digital Literacy training.

Scholarships will fund the attendance of public, academic, community college, and special library staff to local, state, and national conferences of their choice as it relates to their positions within libraries. On a quarterly basis, Library of NC staff will review the applications submitted to ensure that applications illustrate the relevance of the conference and how attendance ties to the Library of NC's LSTA Program 5-Year Plan priorities.

Youth Services  project will provide professional development opportunities centered around services for youth and families which will result in improved programs and resources in North Carolina libraries.

LSTA Program Administration funds the majority of LSTA administrative costs incurred by the Library of NC.

The aim of this program is to increase access to funding for continuing education opportunities that will bolster professional growth for library staff and lead to positive impacts on library communities statewide.