The Institute of Museum and Library Services (IMLS) announced the Illinois Fire Service Institute (IFSI) Library has been selected to receive an Institute of Museum and Library Services (IMLS) FY2023 National Leadership Grants – Libraries award. This grant funds the “Libraries as Partners for Emergency Response and Preparedness in Times of Crisis” project. The Illinois Fire Service Institute and the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, in partnership with the Consortium of Academic and Research Libraries in Illinois and the School of Information Sciences at UIUC, will conduct a preliminary investigation into partnerships between libraries and community emergency response by focusing on three key areas: 1) types of emergencies that libraries have responded to in the past, 2) scope and nature of library-community partnerships; and 3) role of libraries during a crisis. The project will create case studies, survey libraries and community partners, and host two Community Engagement Roundtables (CERs) with library staff, community partners, and participants nationwide. Project results will provide a baseline understanding of how libraries can establish and maintain successful partnerships with community emergency response groups during crises.

For more information about the IFSI Library, visit fsi.illinois.edu/content/library.

The National Leadership Grants for Libraries Program (NLG-L) supports projects that address critical needs of the library and archives fields and have the potential to advance practice and strengthen library and archival services for the American public. For more information, visit imls.gov/grants/available/national-leadership-grants-libraries.