EveryLibrary Institute creates HALO Fund to help Librarians and Library workers in need of financial assistance due to COVID-19
The EveryLibrary Institute is honoring the hard work of the library workers who support our communities by launching a new grant to help them during these difficult times.
In honor of National Library Worker Day on April 21st, 2020, the EveryLibrary Institute is working with hundreds of library supporters and leading library vendors to provide “cost of living grants” of up to $250 to qualified library workers, librarians, and staff from public, school, and academic libraries who have an urgent financial need. The EveryLibrary Institute is a national 501c3 non-profit with a mission to support the future of libraries and the role of librarians in society.
This campaign is called the Help a Library Worker Out Fund (or HALO Fund) and is a crowdfunding campaign to raise money to help support library workers, librarians, and staff who are facing unexpected financial difficulties because of the Coronavirus and resulting economic slowdown.
To date, the EveryLibrary Institute has raised over $15,000 and they’ve given away nearly $13,000 in grants to library workers in need. What defines that need will be identified by the individual but could include household expenses like groceries, child care, cell phone, internet, gas, insurance, and other bills. The application process is confidential and easy to complete. These grants to individuals and families are to be “unrestricted” and do not have a requirement to be paid back.
Who is eligible to receive a “Help a Library Worker Out” grant?
- Individual library workers, staff, or librarians who have lost wages because of a Coronavirus-related layoff.
- Library workers, staff, and librarians who’s spouse, significant other, co-parent, or housemate has lost wages or a job because of a Coronavirus-related layoff or reduction in hours.
As a national library 501c3 non-profit organization, the EveryLibrary Institute is in a unique position to quickly bring together donors from across the country and make grants to library workers who are part of the library family.
Nine organizations and companies have made matching donations ranging from $250 to $1,500. These organizations include the Awesome Library Foundation who made the initial funding available and Urban Librarians Unite who helped with an early matching grant. Corporate donors include Gale, a Cengage company, EBSCO, Zoobean, Brainfuse, Pikinc, WT Cox, and the Quipu Group.
Libraries are important because they offer the public free access to a wealth of accurate information, whether online, in print or in person. And library workers are more than just people who check out your books. Library workers, including librarians, support staff and employees who make library services possible are what keep these resources running and working.
