AILA/APALA Talk Story Literacy Grants

 Deadline: March 15, 2023

The American Indian Library Association and the Asian Pacific American Librarians Association are offering four $500 mini-grants, for the Talk Story: Sharing Stories, Sharing Culture family literacy program. This family literacy program reaches out to Asian American and Pacific Islander (AAPI), and American Indian and Alaskan Native (AIAN) families and their intergenerational community members. Talk Story celebrates and affirms Asian, Pacific Islander, and American Indian intersectionalities through books, oral traditions, art, and more to provide interactive and enriching experiences. 

Talk Story grant funding supports library and community organization opportunities to highlight APIA and AIAN stories through programs, services, and collection materials, so that children and their families can connect to rich cultural activities through Talk Story in their homes, libraries, and communities while challenging mainstream Anglocentric literacy practices. Libraries and community organizations may customize grant projects to meet their service area’s family literacy needs. Selection is based upon:

• creativity and originality of the implementation of the Talk Story program
• accuracy in portrayal of APIA/AIAN cultures
• financial need
• involvement of the library, community, and community organizations as participants, leaders, and promoters of the program
• proposals that reflect the core values of family literacy, intergenerational programming and service, cultural literacy, and representation of APIA and AIAN identities and communities
• projects that actively disrupt stereotypes, decenter colonialism, and hold space for APIA/AIAN agency 

Funds may be used to purchase library materials such as books, audiovisual materials, supplies for activities/crafts, programming costs such as hiring a storyteller, etc. 

For more information and to apply, visit the website: http://www.apalaweb.org/talkstorytogether/grant/