Cal Humanities

"The understanding of a culture comes from hearing the language, tasting the food, seeing personal interactions, experiencing the traditions, and so much more in context."

— Elizabeth Laval & Candice Pendergrass, Sikh Youth Public History Project

"The understanding of a culture comes from hearing the language, tasting the food, seeing personal interactions, experiencing the traditions, and so much more when it is in context."

— Elizabeth Laval & Candice Pendergrass, Sikh Youth Public History Project

Library Innovation Lab Grants

Library Innovation Lab: Exploring New Ways of Engaging Immigrant Communities through Public Humanities Programming

Now entering its eighth year, our Library Innovation Lab (LIL) program supports the design and delivery of responsive and relevant public humanities programming in California’s public libraries.

 

Application Opens Application Deadline Grant Period
December 1, 2023 February 1, 2024 March 1, 2024–December 31, 2024

Click to Download/Enlarge our 2024 Flyer       

The program provides a ten-month practice-based professional development experience (and cash grants of up to $5,500) to ten participating library programmers each year. To date, 84 California libraries from across the state have participated in the program which aims to provide welcoming experiences for immigrants and foster more inclusive communities.

Each year a cohort of library “innovators” researches, designs, implements and assesses a small-scale, short-term public humanities project at their library. Working in a collaborative learning environment that combines virtual group meetings with individual advising, participants will acquire new skills and knowledge in programming and project management, build confidence and develop capacity in working with immigrants and other target audiences. Creativity and imagination are exercised through experimentation with new programming approaches.

In 2020, LIL was recognized for outstanding contributions to public humanities with a Schwartz Prize, an annual honors program of the Federation of State Humanities Councils. Read more about the program’s impact here.

 

List of projects developed by Library Innovation Lab participants

 

Deadline: February 1, 2024

Join our next Library Innovation Lab informational session!

**Our recent Applicant Webinar was held on Friday, December 15, 2023 at 11 am PT **

 

Grantees, please find information in the Grant Portal Guidebook.

For more information, contact Project & Evaluation Director, Felicia Kelley at fkelley@calhum.org.

The Library Innovation Lab was made possible with support from the National Endowment for the Humanities, California Humanities, and the State of California through the California State Library. Visit www.calhum.org.

*Images (left to right): Library Innovation Lab programs at Mill Valley Public Library, Sunnyvale Public Library, Santa Cruz Public Library, San Luis Obispo Public Library, Oakland Public Library Golden Gate Branch, Los Angeles Public Library.