'Building Bridges' Grants Programme
The ability to work internationally has, in the current climate, been
a struggle for most public library services across England but the
benefits of working in this way are well documented. International
partnerships and projects can open up new insights and promote best
practice; they share expertise and collections; they open new audiences
and promote inclusion and cultural diplomacy.
The
Building Bridges programme under the Working Internationally for
Libraries project offered grants to four public library services in
England to work collaboratively with international libraries. The
programme brought together like-minded library services to explore
issues and shared goals through innovative ideas that aims to raise the
profile of library services internationally and to enable a closer
relationship with services beyond our borders.
And the winners for CILIP’s 2020 Building Bridges Grants programme are...
A total of 10 public libraries from all over England applied to be considered for the Building Bridges grants programme under the Working Internationally for Libraries project, funded by Arts Council England. The four winners have been selected by a jury consisting of members from Arts Council England, Public Libraries 2030, and CILIP’s International Libraries and Information Professionals group.
The winning libraries are:
- Redbridge Central Library
- Oldham Libraries
- Barnet Libraries
- Oxfordshire County Libraries
The winning projects undertook projects to build links with libraries in India, Germany, Denmark, and Norway. Projects include collaborative children’s makerspaces, a new residents toolkit for migrant communities, a study into self-service public access to libraries, and a virtual storytelling project for young people.
The projects were selected based on the quality of proposal, focus on innovation, potential benefits to the library services, their respective communities, and the larger sector, and the ambition to learn and grow by building international connections.
The winning libraries received between £7,000 and £20,000 each to work on their proposed time-limited projects and the outcomes were shared at the Working Internationally for Libraries conference in June 2021.
Project 1 - Redbridge Library x PKV & Quilon Library
Project report
Project 2 - Oldham x Cologne, Hamburg & Bremen libraries
Project report
Project 3 - Barnet x Copenhagen & Allerød libraries
Project report
Project 4 - Oxfordshire Libraries x Bergen Libraries Norway
Project report
CILIP is grateful to all the public library services who applied to our first grants programme for international collaboration in public libraries. We have compiled an additional directory of Funding Sources for International Work in Libraries that can be useful for libraries looking to collaborate internationally.
About ‘Building Bridges’ Grants Programme 2020 *closed*
Applications will be considered for three grants of up to £20,000 per organisation or consortium for time-limited projects, which bring together like-minded library services from England and the rest of the world to explore issues and shared goals through innovative ideas. The grants are offered under the ‘Working Internationally for Libraries’ project that aims to raise the profile of library services internationally and to enable a closer relationship with services beyond our borders.
2019-20 Deadline for Applications
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| Applications open: |
Monday, 25 November 2019 |
| Deadline for applications: |
17:00 BST Friday, 31 January 2020 |
| Successful candidates notified: |
w/c 24 February 2020 |
| Visit conducted by: |
December 2020 |
Download Application Form
Download Application Guidelines
Email completed application forms by Friday, 31 January 2020 17:00 BST to:
rabeea.arif@cilip.org.uk
Header photo shows libraries student and CILIP member Yi Wu.
Always good to share ideas and practices, we should not limit our activities to our own libraries but showcasing all we do and learning from other countries.
Lesley Sim, Head of Libraries, Heritage and Registration for West Sussex County Council, UK
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