Writing a PTSA Mini-Grant

As a Media Specialist, it is vital to make yourself aware of all possible funding sources. This year, our wonderful PTSA has again offered "mini-grants" for the faculty. Last year, you could apply for up to $100, but this year you can apply for up to $250! Last year, I applied and received $100 to purchase books and bookmarks to use as incentives in the library program. I run many contests throughout the year in order to attract students into the library, and the books served as great prizes. This year, I decided I wanted to develop our collection through the addition of Batchelder Award books. Essentially, the PTSA asks for two basic questions to be answered: describe the project, and provide the budget for it. At the end of the year, you have to then provide a summary of the project's implementation and how it impacted the student body. Writing a grant such as this takes some research, which takes time; however, it is well worth it in the payoff of exposing your students to excellent literature from around the world. Here is my grant application for this year:


Description of Project:

I would like to develop Orange Grove’s collection of Batchelder Award books. The Batchelder Award, given by the Association for Library Service to Children (ALSC), is given to the most outstanding children’s book originally published in a language other than English, in a country other than the United States, and subsequently translated into English for publication in the United States. A comparative analysis of Orange Grove’s current collection against the Batchelder Award winning titles from the award’s inception in 1968, reveals that we own only six Batchelder titles out of the seventy-seven total award winners. That is only approximately 8% of the award books. Additionally, our current six Batchelder books are woefully inadequate to serve our population of 565 students. The following is a description taken directly from the website of the ALSC, a division of the American Library Association:


This award honors Mildred L. Batchelder, a former executive director of the Association for Library Service to Children, a believer in the importance of good books for children in translation from all parts of the world. She began her career working at Omaha (NE) Public Library, then as a children's librarian at St. Cloud (MN) State Teachers College, and subsequently as librarian of Haven Elementary School in Evanston, IL. She eventually joined the ranks of the American Library Association in 1936. Batchelder spent 30 years with ALA, working as an ambassador to the world on behalf of children and books, encouraging and promoting the translation of the world's best children's literature. Her life's work was "to eliminate barriers to understanding between people of different cultures, races, nations, and languages."


This award, established in her honor in 1966, is a citation awarded to an American publisher for a children's book considered to be the most outstanding of those books originally published in a foreign language in a foreign country, and subsequently translated into English and published in the United States. ALSC gives the award to encourage American publishers to seek out superior children's books abroad and to promote communication among the peoples of the world.


Budget of Project:

I would order the Batchelder titles through our vendor Follett, which the Media Center uses for our annual library orders. Selections are aligned with the Orange Grove Media Center collection development policies, which include preference for hardcover, or other equivalent library binding, to help ensure that the quality literature lasts for years to come. I have selected eighteen titles that could be purchased on an approximate $250 budget. (Note: the attached quote is for $252.99, and shows the cataloging and processing charges of $23.04. However, I would cover anything beyond the PTSA grant amount awarded.)


The attached quote includes each book’s title, author, publisher, year of publication, binding, and price, as well as a brief one or two sentence synopsis.