The Division for Libraries and Technology manages both state and federally funded grants to eligible entities in Wisconsin. The Library Services and Technology Act (LSTA) is the federal grant program for libraries in Wisconsin and is administered at the federal level by the Institute of Museum and Library Services. The current LSTA Five-Year Plan for Wisconsin helps to guide projects funded under the LSTA grant program. The Wisconsin Adult Literacy Project is a state-funded grant to support community-based literacy agencies.
The Division for Libraries and Technology administers state aid to public library systems. State aid is used to provide library programming and resources and supports collaboration for public libraries.
Project Highlights
- Wisconsin Statewide Database Inventory & Needs Assessment Study Final Report (August 2022): ARPA funded study commissioned to develop a statewide public library and K-12 public school library electronic resource database inventory, and identify coverage gaps between BadgerLink and resources provided locally through those libraries. Study and final report prepared by the library consulting firm, CDygert Solutions.
- Wisconsin Adult Literacy Project: Blog post sharing the award of the Wisconsin Adult Literacy Project grant to Wisconsin Literacy, Inc. The grant will help develop and enhance Wisconsin's adult, family, and workplace literacy system through direct services to literacy agencies.
- Beanstack for Libraries: DPI partnership with Zoobean that began in Spring 2020 to provide all public libraries in Wisconsin access to Beanstack, a virtual program to facilitate reading challenges like Summer Reading and 1000 Books Before Kindergarten. In Fall 2021, DPI began offering Beanstack to school libraries.
- DPI grants $3 million in ARPA library pandemic relief funding: Press release announcing the release of grant subawards as part of the American Rescue Plan Act of 2021. The Institute of Museum and Library Services administers the program at a federal level.
- Wisconsin Libraries Transforming Communities Final Report and Evaluation (January 2022): Outcomes of the 18-month community engagement training program held in 2020-2021 and developed in partnership with the American Library Association. Training program expertise and final report by Thriving Libraries, a team of consultants trained in community engagement and leadership development techniques.
- When Closed Doors Aren't Closed: Pandemic OverDrive Digital Collection Research Project Final Report (January 2021): Assessment of the impact of COVID-19 library closures on usage of Wisconsin Public Library Consortium (WPLC) Wisconsin's Digital Library and Wisconsin Schools Digital Library Consortium (WSDLC) digital collections on OverDrive, a digital reading platform used by over 50,000 libraries and schools around the world. This project was made possible through a partnership between DPI, WiLS, WPLC and WSDLC. The final report was prepared by WiLS.