Grant Opportunities for Health Sciences Libraries and Librarians

Medical Library Association (MLA):

  • MLA Research, Development, and Project Demonstration Grant | Application
  • Provides support for research, development, or demonstration projects that will help to promote excellence in the field of health sciences librarianship and information sciences. Grants range from $100 to $1000. Grants will not be given to support an activity that is operational in nature or has only local usefulness. More than one award may be granted in a year.
  • Donald A.B. Lindberg Research Fellowship | Application
  • Established in 2003, provides a $9,945 grant, awarded annually by MLA through a competitive grant process. The purpose of this fellowship is to fund research aimed at expanding the research knowledgebase, linking the information services provided by librarians to improved health care and advances in biomedical research. Application deadline is November 15.

Section Grants

  • Technical Services Section: Continuing Education Grant Request & Application
  • Subsidizes the continuing education costs of TSS members who wish to pursue research in health sciences librarianship, but may lack to means to do so. TSS provides one annual grant to a TSS member who has taken (or proposes to take) a continuing education class directed at developing research skills. Grant covers the actual cost of the course, including the cost of a single-day MLA CE course. All incidental expenses, including transportation, room and board are the responsibility of the successful applicant. The application deadline is January 31.

Chapter Grants

Other Organizations:

American Library Association (ALA)

  • Carnegie-Whitney Award
  • Provides funding for the preparation and publication of popular or scholarly reading lists, indexes and other guides to library resources that will be useful to users of all types of libraries. The grants may be used for print and electronic projects of varying lengths. Grants of up to $5,000 each are awarded annually. Deadline: November 5.
  • Diversity Research Grants
  • Consists of one-time $2,000 annual award for original research and a $500 travel grant to attend and present at ALA Annual Conference. Three grants are awarded each year. Deadline: April 30.
  • Ingenta Research Award  (Library Research Round Table, LRRT) 
  • Grant of up to $6,000 for research and $1,000 for travel to national or international conference to present the results of the research. Given annually to support research projects about acquisition, use, and preservation of digital information. Deadline: January 31.
  • Francis Henne VOYA Research Grant  (Young Adult Library Services Association, YALSA)
  • Provides funding of $1,000 to provide seed money for small scale projects which will encourage research that responds to the YALSA Research Agenda. Deadline: December 1.
  • Jesse H. Shera Award for Distinguished Published Research (LRRT)
  • Certificate presented annually, the award recognizes a research article published in English during the calendar year, nominated by any member of LRRT or by the editors of research journals and information studies.  Deadline: January 31.

Association for Library and Information Science Education (ALISE):

  • ALISE Research Grant Competition
  • Provides one or more grants annually totaling $5,000 to support research broadly related to education for library and information science. Deadline: October 1.

Institute of Museum and Library Services (IMLS):

  • Laura Bush 21st Century Librarian Program: Early Careers Development
  • Provides matching funds ($50,000-$1,000,00) to support the early career development of new faculty members who are likely to become leaders in library and information science. Offers research funds to support innovative research (on any topic in library and information science) by untenured, tenure-track faculty in graduate schools of library and information science as well as tenure-track faculty in graduate school library media education programs. Deadline: December 15.
  • National Leadership Grants
  • Supports projects that have the potential to elevate museum and library practice. Successful proposals will have national impact and generate results—new tools, research, models, services, practices, or alliances—that can be widely adapted or replicated to extend the benefit of federal investment. The Institute seeks to fund projects that have strategic impact, innovation, and collaboration.Categories of Funding include Advancing Digital Resources, Research, Demonstration, and Library and Museum Collaboration.
  • Research grants can be both basic and applied research projects. Research proposals should pose a question and explain through the plan of work how the question will be investigated, how the data will be gathered and analyzed, and how the results will be evaluated and disseminated. Additionally, methodologies must be replicable and results valid and predictable. Successful proposals will place the proposed work within the context of current research. Applied research may include testing in a real-world environment, but must be carried out through investigative methodology. Results of research must be generalizable and of broad benefit to the library or museum field. Deadline: February 1.
  • Demonstration grants must use available knowledge to address key needs and challenges facing libraries and museums, transforming that knowledge into formal practice. Demonstration projects applying under this category should produce a replicable model usable by other institutions for improving practice. Deadline: February 1.

National Library of Medicine (NLM):

  • NN/NLM Funding Assistance
  • Regional Medical Libraries provide regional funding opportunities, review of proposals before they go to NLM, letters of support for NLM grant applications, and training support for awarded projects.
  • NLM Funding Opportunities
  • Extramural Programs (EP) Division of the NLM provides grants and fellowships to organizations and individuals interested in applying computers and telecommunication for improving storage, retrieval, access, and use of biomedical information.

Special Libraries Association (SLA):

  • SLA Research Grant
  • Focuses on the needs and concerns of information professionals in special libraries and related venues, with its current focus being on evidence-based practice, as in the Special Libraries Association (SLA) Research Statement, "Putting Our Knowledge to Work" (www.sla.org/researchstatement).  Awards may be granted up to $25,000. Deadline: October 1.

Other Funding Sources: Agencies, Private Funders, Blogs & Guides

  • Library Grants: Blog
  • Includes postings of grant opportunities specifically for libraries; includes grants of interest to community organizations as well.