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School Library Revitalization Grants

School libraries are essential to fostering student success and enriching the entire school community. A dynamic library program ignites a passion for reading, sparks curiosity, and enhances academic achievement by guiding students in navigating and analyzing information and honing critical thinking skills. Enhancing school libraries makes them more accessible and engaging and increases the diverse array of materials that reflect the broad range of voices within and beyond our students’ communities.


We are thrilled to announce that ODE has received a federal grant to support Oregon’s small and rural K-12 school districts in the 2024-2025 school year to modernize and revitalize their school libraries. These grants will help diversify school library collections, modernize furnishings, support professional development for library staff and provide student engagement materials.

Eligibility and Award Amounts

School library revitalization grant applications are available to school districts who qualify for either, or both federal categories: SRSA (Small Rural School Achievement) and RLIS (Rural Low-Income School).

Each grant is up to $9,400, with districts able to request less than the full $9,400, according to their needs. Districts indicate in their spending plan how much of the grant award they intend to apply for. 

Prioritization

If there is more interest than funding for this grant, the following school districts will be prioritized:

  • School districts who have not received funding from the ESSER III Library Revitalization Grant.

  • School districts who have a higher percentage of multilingual learners and/or students with disabilities.

We encourage everyone who is interested to apply.




Grant Details

Please see this grant announcement for full details of reporting and spending guidelines.

Timeline and Reporting Process

* To ensure clear communications, email contact from the district to ODE should come from the district's designated grant manager for this grant or should copy that grant manager.  The manager for this grant is the person who received the executed grant contract.  

Congressionally Funded Community Project School Library Revitalization Grant 

Steps for recipients to take to ensure timely reimbursement and accurate documentation: 

  1. Fill out the Smartsheet Interest form by September 30th.   

  2. Draft a Spending Plan for the requested funding (up to $9,400) and provide the link to your Spending Plan on the Smartsheet Interest Form. 

    1. Spending Plan for grantees who received round 1 of ESSER III School Library Revitalization funds

    2. Spending Plan for grantees who did not receive round 1 of ESSER III School Library Revitalization funds

  3. Upon approval of grant application, return signed grant agreement to ODE.

  4. Spend all funds on allowable activities and expenses by September 30, 2025. 

    1. Submit request for reimbursement through ODE’s Electronic Grant Management System (EGMS)

  5. Submit a final narrative report and reimbursement claim form (provided by ODE) by September 30, 2025.  

At any step along the way, please reach out with questions.  Email School Revitilzation Grant Staff: Tina.Roberts@ode.oregon.gov and the Literacy Team at K12.literacy@ode.oregon.gov. 


For More Information

This project is funded by the Congressionally Funded Community Project Fund, administered through the Oregon Department of Education.  
Email Tina.Roberts@ode.oregon.gov and K12.literacy@ode.oregon.gov with any questions. 



Expanding Diverse Voices on the Page

EDI Resources for School Library Staff, Educators, and Families

Grant purchases must include texts in support of one or more EDI (equity, diversity, inclusion) and/or reading engagement goals or initiatives. This is flexible, in that it could address ebooks or audiobooks for accessibility, hi-lo books for striving readers, materials in Spanish, popular books that students ask for, books with characters or by authors that reflect the demographics of your student population, or books as windows to cultures that are not heavily represented in your student population. Diverse voices and perspectives can allow students to see themselves reflected in the text. In the words of Dr. Rudine Sims Bishop, these materials create "mirrors, windows, and sliding glass doors" as students read about people similar to and different from themselves.

Book Lists and Educator Resources