GRANTS
2023 Grant Awards Support Summer Books for Kids and Digital Access to Legal Information
At their May 2023 meeting the Board of the Library Foundation of Washington County awarded grants in the amount of $6000 each to Washington County Cooperative Library Services (WCCLS) and the Washington County Law Library.
The grant to WCCLS will support its annual Summer Book Distribution Program that provides free books to children and teens at 95 sites across the county. The program targets families in low income areas, families who are unable to visit libraries regularly due to transportation or other barriers, and families who speak any of the County’s Safe Harbor languages. The program, with support from a variety of partners, will distribute over 13,000 books in 8 languages this summer. WCCLS was the busiest library system in Oregon in fiscal year 2022, lending 10.98 library items (physical or digital) per county resident. Data was reported by the State Library of Oregon for the year ending June 30, 2022.
The Washington County Law Library grant will fund the continuation of a LexisNexis Digital Library subscription for one year. The subscription provides digital access to a number of law library titles through the same Overdrive platform used by the County public library system and is made available to non-attorneys as well as attorneys. The previous year (initial year of subscription) was funded by a one time State Library Grant and this request provides funding to continue the subscription service. The database can be accessed here:
https://www.washingtoncountyor.gov/law-library/lexisnexis-digital-library
Library Foundation of Washington County Distributes Grants to Support Youth Summer Reading programs and Recognize the Growing Diversity of Washington County – July 5, 2022
The Library Foundation of Washington County (LFWC) recently awarded grants to the Washington County Cooperative Library Services (WCCLS) and the Washington County Law Library to support their efforts.
WCCLS will receive $5000 to support the purchase of books for distribution to children and teens at free Summer Food Service Program sites and other community partner venues throughout Washington County. The funds will augment financial support from WCCLS, its member libraries, and library Friends groups to give physical books to families with access or economic barriers and who are often underrepresented. The target populations are: children and teens living more than 5 miles from a population center and without access to public transportation, those participating in school-based summer programs, BIPOC families, immigrants and refugee families, migrant communities, LGBTQ families, and families experiencing food and/or housing insecurity.
The Washington County Law Library will receive $5000 to update the display of Washington County Judges’ photos and add other visually appealing artwork to the Law Library to increase the diversity of artists represented and make the Law Library a more inclusive and welcoming space. The current display has only five judges depicted, all white men. There are 46 current and former judges, and the group is
increasingly diverse. The display should reflect that. In addition, the Law Library would like to update the visual aesthetic of the space by adding rotating displays from local artists.
In May 2021, LFWC awarded grants for $2500 to each organization for use in 2021-2022.
The Washington County Law Library used the funds to support the purchase of a microfilm reader-printer to allow library patrons to fully access legal materials in the Law Library. WCCLS, for a second year, used the funds to support purchase of books to be distributed to children and teens at free Summer Food Service Program sites and partner venues throughout the county.
2020 LFWC awarded $2000 grants to WA County Cooperative Library Services & WA County Law Library
WCCLS used the 2020-21 grant to support the purchase of books for distribution to children and teens at Summer Food Service Program sites in summer 2020. The funds augmented support from WCCLS, member libraries, and library Friends groups to provide nearly 10,000 bags containing a free book and art supplies to area youth. Youth receiving the bags were from families that met low-income economic criteria to receive free or reduced-price meals during the school year. These children are less likely to have Internet access at home, and with public library buildings closed due to coronavirus restrictions, benefited from access to these resources.
The Washington County Law Library used the funds to support the purchase of videoconferencing equipment to offer multimedia video capabilities in the Law Library conference room. As courts and legal practitioners move to more online interactions, self-represented litigants need access to technology to participate in online proceedings. They will be able to schedule the use of the Law Library equipment to remotely appear at hearings or other legal proceedings. The technology installation was completed in June 2021 and is ready for use as County buildings begin to reopen post-pandemic closures.
