The Coretta Scott King Book Awards Donation Grant

The Coretta Scott King Book Awards Round Table's (CSKBART) Donation Grant was created to help build collections and bring books into the lives of children in preschool programs, faith-based reading projects, homeless shelters, charter schools, underfunded libraries, and other community organizations. The Coretta Scott King Book Awards Committee believes children’s lives must be saturated with books and reading opportunities. An enduring message of the Committee's Public Awareness Campaign is that books and reading can only add value to children's lives if books are present with opportunities to read. The Book Donation Grant addresses these objectives.

Background

As a part of the annual process of choosing the Coretta Scott King Book Award winners and honor books, the CSKBART Jury Committee receives multiple copies of over 100 titles by African American authors and illustrators, including a full set of the year's winning and honor titles.

Agencies and institutions serving children can make use of these valuable materials. Therefore, the Coretta Scott King Book Awards Committee has devised the following process for donating selected copies of the books submitted for consideration for the award to an agency with demonstrated need.

Applicants must demonstrate the following:

  • Why the collection is needed in their community?
  • Why the collection is needed in their agency or institution?
  • How would acquiring the collection will help to better serve the children and youth of their community?
  • That the materials will be made freely available to children and youth without censorship

Criteria

Applications will be judged based on:

  • The degree of need in the community (15 points)
  • The demonstrated need of the agency or institution applying for the materials (15 points)
  • The extent to which the materials will improve service to children and youth in the community (20 points)
  • The extent to which the materials will be used to promote positive self-image of African American children and youth and/or broaden the worldview of children and youth (20 points)
  • The clarity and effectiveness of the statement of need (10 points)
  • The sustainability and effectiveness of the plan to make the materials available in their community, including the demonstrated programming of the applying institution or agency to implement their proposal (20 points)

A committee appointed by the Coretta Scott King Book Awards Committee Chair will review the applications and based on the total number of points, determine the recipient or recipients of the materials. To assure agencies and institutions receive age appropriate books, the committee reserves the right to divide a single grant among two or more agencies or institutions.

Guidelines

  1. Any agency or institution that serves children or youth can apply for this award. This includes, but is not limited to schools, libraries, social service agencies, community organizations, prisons or detention centers, churches or other religious organizations, and institutions of higher education.
  2. Completed applications must be received in the Office for Diversity, Literacy, and Outreach Services (ODLOS) by March 15, 2026. Recipient(s) of the Book Donation will be announced by the end of March/ Early April.
  3. An online application must be submitted to ALA by the deadline stated above. NO PAPER COPIES ARE ACCEPTED.
  4. Materials must be claimed within one month of notification of the donation or they will be donated to the second choice of the award committee.
  5. Recipients agree to accept all materials offered.
  6. Grant recipients are required to submit a brief follow up report by March 31st of the following year.
  7. A selected institution or agency may receive materials no more than once every five years.
  8. To maximize the impact and reach of these resources over time, we will not consider proposals indicating the intent to give the books away, whether through Little Free Libraries or by other means.

Application 

Please read the criteria and guidelines before filling out the application.

Link to the application - due March 15, 2026

Link to:  Past Book Donation Grant Recipients

 

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Book Awards Donation Grant Poster
(.pdf, 1.37 MB)