The Association of Research Libraries Venture Fund Grants

Deadline: February 28, 2020

The Association of Research Libraries (ARL) has established a Venture Fund to support prototypes or proofs of concept that scale so as to advance the Association priorities set by the members and the Board. Proposals for Venture Fund investments may come from an ARL member representative, a group of member representatives, an Association committee, or staff persons at member libraries with the explicit approval of their library dean or director. Three types of projects will be considered:

• Research and development one-time grants capped at $15,000 for a significant enhancement or expansion of a prototype
• Research and development pilots lasting 1–3 years, capped at $10,000 per year, dependent on an annual review by the ARL Program Strategy Committee and a decision by the Board of Directors to continue to fund
• Mini grants capped at $1,500 for small-scale proofs of concept or prototypes (post–idea formulation)

Proposed projects must exist in some form already and have an identified community of users with the potential to scale. Proposals that demonstrate collaboration between ARL member institutions will be given preference.

More information about the Venture Fund and the application process may be found in this document [PDF] and on the ARL Member Resources site (Member Resources login required).