LSTA Grant Information

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

Statewide Programs

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

21st Century Libraries will provide access to the LibGuides platform for the State Library of North Carolina, 58 community college libraries, and 84 public library systems across the state.  This platform allows library staff to easily create online content for users in a hosted environment. Additionally 84 public library systems across the state have access to the Northstar Digital Literacy training.

#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.

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 and Evaluation Support Libraries will receive access to training and tools that support data-driven decision making for all aspects of library services. Continued access to LibPAS supports the collection, analysis and usage of annual report and Public Libraries Survey (PLS) data. The input and output data collected through the annual report will be enhanced by access to the Public Library Association's Benchmark tool for up to 24 libraries which includes topical survey data that is more qualitative in nature relating to services, technology, staff and facilities.  

Expanding Capabilities   provides continuing education and professional development/training for SLNC staff. Professional development helps to strengthen the State Library of North Carolina’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 State Library remains a central hub in enriching the lives of North Carolinians. 

Captioning Services for Patrons  ensure accessibility for State 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 State Library, Library Development, Library for the Blind, Government Heritage Library, and other North Carolina partner agencies; and to provide opportunities of learning with other new directors.

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, State Library staff will review the applications submitted to ensure that applications illustrate the relevance of the conference and how attendance ties to the State Library’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. This year's opportunities will be for all youth age groups as well as provide for some opportunities to promote intergenerational programs.

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

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.