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The Capital District Library Council invites applications for 2023 Regional Collections Grants through Friday, March 3, 2023. All CDLC member institutions, including individual public and school libraries, are eligible to apply.

CDLC members may apply for a grant for a metadata project, a digital collection grant to contribute content to New York Heritage, or a digital newspaper grant to contribute content to NYS Historic Newspapers.

This grant is funded through the New York State Basic Aid to Libraries. Projects considered for funding should improve access to collections and content or raise the visibility of regional collections.

Priority will be given to projects that:

  • Highlight undiscovered collections in our region
  • Align with CDLC’s strategic goals (see our Plan of Service)
  • Have matching funds
  • Are collaborative efforts between two or more CDLC members
  • Encompass a complete collection
  • Are submitted by first-time applicants
  • Are composed of long and complete runs of newspapers that are on microfilm

Other types of proposals may be considered.

Past winners and projects are listed here: https://cdlc.libguides.com/raac/grant_recipients

For newspapers, copyright clearance must be obtained if the title includes papers published after 1923. More information about copyright clearance can be found on the NYS Historic Newspapers tools page under “Additional Contribution Information” at https://nyshistoricnewspapers.org/contribute/.

If you are a new contributor to New York Heritage, you must first contact Susan D’Entremont (susan@cdlc.org) for eligibility information and instructions about how to join the project. New York Heritage uses CONTENTdm and you will need to download the client software to your workstation.

Grant applicants must submit a final report describing how they expended the funds and the number of records enhanced or digitized. Libraries may be asked to describe their project in a CDLC publication or present at a CDLC event.

A subcommittee of CDLC’s Regional Automation Advisory Committee will review applications and present recommendations to the CDLC Board of Trustees who will approve the applications.

Contact Kari Kakeh (kkakeh@cdlc.org) with any questions about the application process.