2025 Global Libraries Grant

Global Libraries Grant

Thank you for your applications! Grant recipients will be notified soon.

The Global Libraries Grant supports K-12 student engagement with internationally themed texts. Applicants may select up to 30 titles from the thematic list provided on this year’s theme, human rights and migration. The book list has been curated by IRIS NRC with contributions from the Cooperative Children’s Book Center (CCBC).

Applications for the 2025 grant cycle are now closed.

View the 2025 book list

FAQ

Who can apply? 
Any school library (or department if your school doesn’t have a library) in the state of Wisconsin may apply.

If selected, how many books will my school receive?
Up to thirty books can be selected from a discrete list provided by IRIS NRC, as they meet your school’s needs. In your application, you can select 30 individual titles or multiple copies of individual titles.

Which books can I pick from?
IRIS NRC has curated a list of books based on the 2025 theme of human rights and migration. You can view the book list below:

Download the 2025 book list

How do I apply?
You will apply for the grant through a brief application form outlining the use of the books, the need for the books in your school, and potential initiatives at your school that the books could help support.

Criteria for evaluation:

  • Geographical diversity: funding will be awarded to provide the maximum diversity across state school districts
  • Need: demonstrated financial or curricular need to internationalize the library collection
  • Anticipated impact: discussion of how the books might impact the school and school community

Please direct all questions about the program to outreach@iris.wisc.edu

Award Recipients will Receive: 

  1. Up to 30 copies of internationally themed books for their school library/department
  2. Award certificate for display
  3. A press release sample for their school newsletter

Award Recipients are Asked to: 

  1. Highlight the books in a display in their school library or classroom
  2. Announce the award in a school or district newsletter
  3. Provide a testimonial or complete a questionnaire about the school’s use of the books

Literature transforms human experience and reflects it back to us, and in that reflection we can see our own lives and experiences as part of the larger human experience.

Dr. Rudine Sims Bishop, Perspectives: Choosing and Using Books for the Classroom