The Institute of Museum and Library Services is accepting proposals for two grant programs, the Biden administration launches new education initiative, author Linda Sue Park will lead a new imprint and unionized HarperCollins workers have planned a one-day strike.

IMLS accepting grant proposals

The Institute of Museum and Library Services (IMLS) is accepting proposals for the National Leadership Grants for Libraries and the Laura Bush 21st Century Librarian Program for fiscal year 2023.

The National Leadership Grants for Libraries program supports projects that address critical needs of the library and archives fields and have the potential to advance practice in these professions to strengthen library and archival services for the American public. Successful proposals will generate results such as new models, new tools, research findings, services, practices, or alliances that will be widely used, adapted, scaled, or replicated to extend and leverage the benefits of federal investment.

The Laura Bush 21st Century Librarian Program seeks to fund projects that recruit, train, develop, and retain a diverse workforce of librarians and archivists to better meet the information needs of communities being served. The program also aims to develop faculty, library, and archives leaders by “increasing the institutional capacity of libraries, archives, and of graduate programs related to library and information science; and enhancing the training and professional development of the library and archival workforce to meet the needs of their communities.” Depending on the type of project proposed, the grants can be for two or three years and from $50,000 to $750,000.

Applicants can review the rules of the funding on the webpages and contact IMLS employees noted there with any questions. Two-page preliminary proposals are due by Sept. 21, 2022.

Biden administration launches tutoring, student support initiative

The Biden Administration called on schools to use American Rescue Plan funding to provide tutoring, summer learning and enrichment, and afterschool programs to support "academic recovery" after pandemic disruptions to education.

In addition, the administration announced National Partnership for Student Success, an initiative led by AmeriCorps and the Department of Education, which will work with national education, youth development, and service organizations as well as the Johns Hopkins Everyone Graduates Center, to train and place 250,000 adults as tutors, mentors, student success coaches, integrated student supports coordinators, and post-secondary education transition coaches.

“NPSS will help expand high-impact tutoring, mentoring, and other evidence-based support programs that help students succeed,” the administration fact sheet said, which also said that the initiative will help build the pipeline of educators as more people gain experience working in our schools, they will “seek out roles as teachers and student support professionals.”

ALA seeks president-elect and councilors-at-large nominees

The American Library Association (ALA) Nominating Committee for the 2023 election is seeking nominees to run for ALA president-elect and councilor-at-large.

From the nominations, the committee will select candidates to run for president-elect as well as the candidates for the 33 at-large council seats to be filled in the 2023 spring election. The president-elect will serve as president-elect in 2023-24, president in 2024-25, and immediate past president in 2025-26.

The councilors-at-large will serve a three-year term from 2023–26, beginning after the 2023 ALA Annual Conference and ending at the adjournment of the 2026 Annual Conference.

New imprint, Allida, will showcase marginalized stories

HarperCollins Children’s Books has announced the launch of Allida, a new imprint for children and teens at Clarion Books led by Newbery-winning author Linda Sue Park (A Single Shard, A Long Walk to Water) and Clarion editorial director Anne Hoppe. Allida, which is named for the Korean word that means to inform, announce, or make known, will launch in early 2023. Its stated mission is to "encourage marginalized writers and artists to explore the stories they are most passionate about and to craft narratives that defy expectations.”

The first title will be You Are Here: Connecting Flights, a middle grade book that explores contemporary Asian American identity through interwoven stories. Ellen Oh will edit the book, which will feature stories from Oh, Park, Mike Jung, Erin Entrada Kelly, Minh Lê, Grace Lin, Linda Sue Park, Randy Ribay, Christina Soontornvat, and others. The You Are Here authors will make a $5,000 collective, one-time donation to StopAAPIHate.org, which will be matched by HarperCollins.

[Read: Linda Sue Park: Children Love Books with “Fierce Adoration” | The Newbery at 100]

EveryLibrary opens Banned Book Store

EveryLibrary has launched a Banned Book Store, which the nonprofit is calling the “most comprehensive store of currently banned and challenged books in the United States.”

The included books have been targeted for banning or censorship attempts and are available for purchase in print and through Ingram’s online Aerio platform. Proceeds from the bookstore go to support the work of EveryLibrary.

Veera Hiranandani wins New-York Historical Society's Children's History Book Prize

The New-York Historical Society has awarded this year’s Children’s History Book Prize to author Veera Hiranandani for How to Find What You’re Not Looking For (Kokila, 2021). The prize of $10,000 is awarded annually to the best fiction or nonfiction American history book for readers ages 9–12.

“Veera Hiranandani has written a deeply compelling book that beautifully illustrates how a national event, like a Supreme Court decision [Loving v. Virginia], can impact everyday Americans, especially young people,” New-York Historical Society president and CEO Louise Mirrer said in a statement. “It’s our honor to present Veera with this year’s Children’s History Book Prize.”

Hiranandani was selected by a jury that included librarians, educators, historians, and families with middle schoolers. Finalists for this year’s Children’s History Book Prize were Defiant: Growing up in the Jim Crow South by Wade Hudson, Finding Junie Kim by Ellen Oh, and Race Against Time: The Untold Story of Scipio Jones and the Battle to Save Twelve Innocent Men by Sandra Neil Wallace and Rich Wallace.

HarperCollins union set to strike

Unionized HarperCollins employees will hold a one-day strike on Wednesday, July 20. The union, which represents more than 250 employees in editorial, sales, publicity, design, legal, and marketing departments, wants higher pay, improved family leave benefits, a greater commitment to diversifying staff, and stronger union protection.

According to the union press release, “The mainly women workers average $55,000 annually, with a starting salary of $45,000. Many employees cite pressure to work extra hours without additional compensation. The company, one of the top five book publishers globally, reported record-setting profits in the past two years .”

“Most of us earn low salaries that are unlivable in major cities like New York and Boston," Senior Production Editor in Children’s Books and the Union chairperson Laura Harshberger said in a statement. “Our compensation doesn’t reflect our education and skills, or our contributions to the financial success of the company.”