Below is an indication of the kinds of funding which may be available for reading-related activities in libraries.
Lottery funding
There are various streams of lottery funding available. Their website gives links to all the different lottery funders. Lottery funding is the most likely source of funding for libraries.
The current programmes include:
Arts Council England – Grants for the Arts (Organisations)
Grants for the Arts gives grants of approximately £200-£100,000 to support arts-related activity in organisations. At least 10% of the funding must come from other sources (eg your organisation, income etc). Funding must be time-limited and can be for up to three years. Examples of what can be funded include: events, projects, activities, research, marketing, education, training. Their priorities are: helping more people to take part in the arts; arts of opportunities for children and young people; developing vibrant communities through the arts; developing the creative economy; promoting diversity.
Big Lottery Fund
Big Lottery funding is targeted at communities. The Big Lottery Fund has funded various library-targeted programmes in the past (for example Community Libraries). They also administered the Breathing Places funding.
Programmes which are open at the moment include:
- Family Learning (until August 2008)
Gives grants of £10000 to £500000 for creative and innovative projects which involve adults and children learning together in an informal way. Priority is given to families most in need. Statutory bodies can apply but must have a voluntary sector partner. Project outcomes should be: family members participating in and enjoying more educational activities; family members developing skills and knowledge; parents/carers interacting with their children and better able to support their learning.
- Reaching Communities (ongoing but under review)
Gives grants of £10000 to £500000 to improve communities and the lives of people most in need. Projects must fulfil one or more of these outcomes: people having better life chances and better access to training and development; stronger communities with more active citizens; improved community access to better rural and urban environments; healthier and more active people and communities. The project must be targeted at people in need – who experience barriers to participation due to where they live, disability, race, mental or physical health etc.
Heritage Lottery Fund
These grants are heritage-focussed but library services have been successful in getting grants to do various projects including education, outreach, storytelling as well as conservation/digitisation.
Programmes open at the moment include:
- Your Heritage
Provides grants of between £5000 and £50000 for community-focussed heritage projects. Projects have to increase learning opportunities and involvement in heritage – such as local culture, language, way of life, traditions.
- Heritage Grants
Large grants of between £50000 and £5m for projects which enhance or conserve UK heritage and provide opportunities for community learning, access and involvement.
- Young Roots
This programme is specifically for 13-20 year olds (or up to 25 with special needs). They award between £5000 and £25000 for projects which increase young people’s involvement in their local culture and heritage. Young people must be involved in the project from the start.
Awards for All
This fund is open to community groups, charities, town/parish councils and schools, and not local authorities. However projects they have funded include projects which libraries could be involved with, such as creative writing workshops and volunteer reading help.
Other possible sources of funding
Central government
At times government departments make grants to organisations for projects relating to their priorities. Past areas which have related to library work have included work with young people and refugees/asylum seekers. The central source for information on central government funding is www.governmentfunding.org.uk
The Department for Children, Schools and Families (DCSF) has a fund called Mediabox which is offering small grants to individuals and larger grants to organisations to do media projects with 13-19s (particularly disadvantaged groups). Projects can include fiction, comics, magazines, illustrated books as well as film/photography/digital media. Local authorities can apply.
Local government
It is important to be aware of funding being distributed by other parts of the local authority (either at county or district/borough level). Examples include money from Extended Services (through schools) and the LPSA2 (Local Public Service Agreement) funding.
Arts and Business
Arts and Business is an organisation which aims to create partnerships between businesses and the arts to benefit both organisations and the community at large. As well as offering advice and support for businesses and arts organisations who want to work together, Arts and Business offer funding through their Reach investment programme. They offer between £500 and £10000, but business has to contribute £2 for every £1 from the programme. Projects must either be a new activity or enhance an existing activity, and there must be clear benefits to business. They have funded literature-related projects including a workplace reading group initiative and volunteer reading help.
European Funding
Information on EU funding for culture in 2007-2013 is available at http://www.culturefund.eu/ . Projects have to involve at least 3 organisations in at least 3 European countries to be eligible.
Information about European Structural Funds is available from the Government Office for the South East. Most of the money is distributed through co-financing organisations (such as the Learning & Skills Council (LSC), South East England Development Agency (SEEDA), Jobcentre Plus etc) and focuses on skills/employment. Different funding is available to specific regions.
Prizes
These are obviously of no use in starting up a project. However, winning an award could raise the profile of your organisation and some offer small amounts of money for your project if you win! One example is CILIP's (the Chartered Institute of Library and Information Professionals) CILIP/LiS Libraries Change Lives Award.
Grantmaking trusts
There are some charitable foundations which give grants to organisations working in the fields of art, culture and education. Many of these will only consider applications from registered charities, which means library authorities cannot usually apply. However some foundations (eg Wolfson and Paul Hamlyn) do at times offer challenge funding to libraries for projects which link closely to their funding priorities. It may also be possible to get funding from such organisations as a partner organisation to a local community or voluntary organisation.
Examples are:
General advice on finding funding
Don’t forget that many local authorities provide lottery and external funding support through external funding units. Use their information resources and advice services.
You can read our funding section. We also subscribe to South East Open4Funding, a database of funders which can be searched for free. This includes sections for business and the voluntary sector, but the most useful part will be Open4PublicSector, which gives funding information, news, and search facilities specifically for public sector organisations. You can then either browse all grants (there is a sub-section for arts and cultural projects) or search based on your sector and specific project type. In order to access specific information about each grant, you will need to complete a simple registration form.
Finally there are some factsheets produced by other organisations which may be useful (though not directly aimed at libraries) – they give some tips on writing applications, approaching trusts, and give links to funding websites:
