Application Process
The deadline to apply for a Year of the Book Grant is Wednesday, March 9, 2022. Below you will find more information on how we are trying to accommodate the current uncertainties caused by COVID-19. All applications must be submitted online no later than this date to be considered. A completed application will include:
- A completed Year of the Book application form
- A statement of support from the school principal
- A statement of support from the director or children’s librarian of the local public library
- A statement of support from the school librarian
- Statements of support from one or more teachers (Optional, but strongly encouraged)
- Any additional materials that demonstrate the school’s need for supplementary literacy programming and/or the creative, enthusiastic ways that the school staff will help this initiative to succeed
- Final statement: CLiF will ask grant finalists to submit a one-page final statement summing up their commitment to Year of the Book programs
WHAT CLiF ASKS OF GRANT RECIPIENTS IN THE CURRENT SCHOOL YEAR
Because of COVID-19, CLiF is pushing back the timing of our application, acceptance, and training timeline for CLiF Year of the Book. Schools that receive Year of the Book grants are asked to facilitate their grant’s success by completing the following activities before the end of the current school year:
- Community Literacy Conference: Due to COVID-19, we will hold the conference virtually in March; we are finalizing timing and details. Typically, we would announce grant recipients in advance of the conference. This year, we will require any applicants of Year of the Book to send one or more participants to the virtual conference. We will announce grant recipients by March 30, 2022. The virtual conference will still include Year of the Book information sessions, networking with current, incoming, and past Year of the Book schools, and exciting hands-on sessions around literacy.
- Local Coordinator: Schools must select a local coordinator. The coordinator will be CLiF’s onsite contact. He or she will work with the school and a local advisory committee to organize, schedule, and report on events and programs. The coordinator may be an administrator, teacher, parent, or librarian. CLiF will pay the coordinator a stipend of $600 for the year as a small expression of our thanks for their efforts.
- Advisory Committee: CLiF asks the local coordinator to assemble a committee of teachers, staff, parents, and/or community members to help with event planning and promotion and with maintaining momentum after the grant period.
- Informational Kickoff Meeting: In April or May 2022, CLiF will visit, in-person if possible or virtually, each sponsored school to meet the local coordinator, advisory committee, principal, and teachers involved with the planning process. This meeting will last about an hour. At this meeting, CLiF staff will work with your school to plan the fall Kick Off event, to brainstorm an initial calendar of events for the upcoming year, and to answer any questions.