McMurry Continuing Staff Education Grant

Individuals in publicly accessible libraries are eligible for competitive continuing education grants from the Carol McMurry Library Endowment. Please carefully read the details below to see if you are eligible.

1. The educational event identified in the application must NOT begin or occur within 30 days immediately after the deadline date. The Foundation must have adequate time to review applications, issue award or denial letters, and process payments prior to the start of the event.

2. In order of priority, continuing education undertakings under this endowment are:

1. 1. Courses that support certification or completion of a degree or certificate in the library-related subject area;
   2. Conferences, workshops, seminars or training in the employee’s or volunteer’s library related subject area;
   3. General courses that may not be directly library related but allow a library employee or volunteer to do their job more effectively.

3. In order of priority, awards are given to employees in:

1. 1. Public libraries
      
   2. Academic libraries
      
   3. Special libraries
      
   4. Public school libraries
      
   5. Public archives

4. Individuals must be employed or have volunteered for 12 consecutive months at their current library to be considered for a grant. The 12 months must be completed at the time the application is submitted.

5. Individuals may seek funding for a substitute worker as part of the grant, so library operations can continue during the absence.

6. The grant is for an individual’s continuing education.

7. Support for conference attendance is available once every three years. For example, if a grant recipient attends a conference in 2017 they would be ineligible to reapply until 2020. Grant funds may not be used for international conferences.

Awards are distributed directly to an individual via ACH Payment. Final report instructions are included with the letter of award, which is sent once the distribution has been made.  All final reports include a financial section wherein an individual is responsible for submitting evidence of expenditures in the form of receipts and invoices corresponding to the amount of the award. Any amount not verified through receipts and invoices must be reimbursed to the fund.

Please contact Ben Kinion (BenK@wycf.org) if you have any questions!