GRANTS FOR LEARNING LABS IN LIBRARIES AND MUSEUMS

Grant: Grants for Learning Labs in Libraries and Museums
Agency: Institute of Museum and Library Services (IMLS)
Deadline: This competition is closed. The deadline was June 15, 2012 for projects beginning in January 2013.

Description: IMLS is partnering with the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation to create a network of up to 30 Learning Labs in libraries and museums. The Labs will become spaces for experimentation and creativity for young people, helping them gain experience in STEM learning, critical thinking, problem solving, communication and collaboration in an out-of-school setting.

Grants from this program will support planning and design activities that will enable grantees to develop comprehensive plans for programs, space, staffing and budgeting for their Learning Lab. The awards may also be used to prototype certain lab activities or experiences. In addition, the grants may be used to support emerging Learning Labs that are already in the process of serving middle and high school youth with innovative digital media and learning.

The target audience for the Learning Labs include middle school and high school age youth. Applicants should address how the proposed Learning Lab will address and serve the needs of this audience in the library or museum's community, and engage stakeholders in the community. Each grant is expected to result in a feasible plan for implementing and sustaining the Learning Lab envisioned by the applicant library or museum.

Learning lab grants will support projects that aim to achieve the following:

• Promote museums and libraries as innovation hubs for middle and high school youth that facilitate 21st century learning.
• Use current research, design and programming principles to develop effective spaces for youth that combine digital and traditional media.
• Use traditional and digital media tools for youth learning.
• Build the capacity of library and museum professionals as mentors and creators of effective youth programs and learning environments.
• Increase use of museum and library resources as hubs of effective out-of-school time community networks for learning.
• Create a network of prototype projects that can provide new models that can be shared and iterated across the museum and library sector.

Partnerships may strengthen applications; showing collaborative relationships with related community organizations will help to support an application and may add a critical element for sustainability of a Learning Lab.

Fit for public broadcasting: While most public broadcasting stations are not eligible to be lead applicants to this program, it is a great partnership opportunity. The focus of this program is on media and learning for young people, and public television and radio stations are therefore well-positioned to play a role. Public media stations can provide expertise to these community-based learning centers; IMLS emphasizes STEM learning, as well as media literacy, communication and problem-solving. IMLS also requires that Learning Labs incorporate community engagement techniques, something local stations do particularly well. Partnerships are encouraged for this program, and stations should collaborate with local libraries or museums. The MacArthur Foundation partnered with IMLS to create this program, and the MacArthur Foundation has a history of supporting public broadcasting.

Past Grantees Include:

• Twin Cities Public Television partnered with St. Paul Public Library, which was awarded $100,000 to plan and design digital learning labs to improve digital literacy and to engage young people in hands-on learning. The labs will help youth gain the 21st century skills and knowledge they need to succeed in school, careers and life.
• KQED partnered with San Francisco Public Library and will help to create a new Teen Center/Learning Lab that will bridge the digital divide in San Francisco's youth community, promote digital media literacy, convert digital media consumers to producers, develop leaders and prepare youth for the technology job market of the future.
• WOSU Public Media partnered with Columbus Metropolitan Library and will develop a system of teen learning labs across the city of Columbus, Ohio. The labs will use digital media tools to enhance learning and create a collaborative community of teens.

Eligibility: Applicants must be either a unit of state or local government or a private nonprofit organization and must be located in the United States. While there have been instances of nonprofit organizations submitting an application on behalf of a museum or library, primarily applicants include museums and libraries. Stations are encouraged to start building partnerships with these community organizations today.

Applicants applying as a library or archive must also be one of the following: a library or a parent organization, an academic or administrative unit that is part of an institution of higher education, a library agency that is an official agency of a state or other unit of government, a library consortium or a library association that engages in activities designed to advance the well-being of libraries and the library profession.

Applicants applying as a museum must also be one of the following: a museum that has a professional staff, an organization that engages in activities designed to advance the well-being of museums and the museum profession or an institution of higher education.

Anticipated funding: Grants will be for a maximum of $100,000. Up to 13 Learning Labs will be funded. Cost sharing of at least one third is encouraged but not required. Projects must begin on January 1, 2013, and last for 18 months.

How to apply: Applications must be submitted electronically via Grants.gov. Online submission requires registration, a process that usually takes three to five business days but can take as long as four weeks. Be sure to visit Grants.gov and begin registering well in advance of the deadline.

Applicants must maintain registration in the Central Contractor Registry (CCR).

Resources:
Program notice
Program website
YOUmedia – The principles of this project are the foundations for the Learning Labs program.
Read more on Innovation Lab for Museums, a foundation grant opportunity encouraging partnerships to help enable museums to design, research and prototype novel approaches to field-wide challenges in a lab-like setting.