Library Outreach to Children Program 2024-2025 Request Form

Application period: August 15, 2024 - June 15, 2025

Overview:

PLEASE READ!

The Library Outreach to Children (LOC) Program provides resources to Idaho public libraries to enhance staff outreach visits, reaching those children who cannot get to or access their local library and increasing the number of households with access to books in their homes throughout the year.

A few reminders:

The LOC Program allows Idaho public libraries to request paperback books for library outreach events up to two times for school year outreach and once for summer outreach. All outreach requests can be submitted through this form for both school year and summer outreach efforts. Please note that we close this program from June 15 to Aug 15 of each year so we can close out our fiscal year budget and restock the books for this program. Please see "Book Limits" description on ICfL's program website and below in this application.

LOC requests should be submitted at least 2-3 weeks prior to the outreach event date to allow time for ICfL staff to put together the request, sticker the books, and ship them to the library prior to the event. We have more limitations to our staff and our volunteers than in the past so this lead time is important.

If you are a school library who wishes to apply for this program, please contact Kristina Taylor, Outreach & Community Engagment Consultant, at (208) 334-2150 or kristina.taylor@libraries.idaho.gov, to discuss your proposal. Schools may apply on a case-by-case basis if you do not have a public library nearby, or if your public library near you cannot serve your school through their outreach efforts.

Please also consider requesting our free outreach support materials to promote early literacy at your event. You can find a description of the various materials we provide and a separate request form at the ICfL Market site at: https://materials.lili.org/

Thank you!

-Kristina

Please choose the public library and branch for which you are submitting this application.

If you are a school library who has received prior approval from ICfL staff to directly submit an LOC request, please enter your school name here:

Primary Contact Name:*

First NameLast Name

Primary Contact Email:*

example@example.com

Primary Contact Phone:*

Please enter a valid phone number.

Secondary Contact Email (please provide a back-up staff person to contact):*

example@example.com

Shipping Address (this address must be able to receive boxes):*

Street Address

Street Address Line 2

CityState

Zip Code

Program Requirements:

By applying to this program, my library agrees to meet the following requirements for the Library Outreach to Children program to the best of my ability (check each box in acknowledgement):*

The library shall conduct outreach efforts outside of the library walls and outside of regular, in-house library programming, going to where the children who cannot reach their local library already are and targeting the children and families who are currently not able to or are least likely to utilize the public library;In-person, face-to-face outreach is the main focus of this program. (Exceptions may be made - reach out to Kristina to discuss.)The library is encouraged to offer a storytime or another literacy program element at their outreach event if possible;The library shall include the sharing of library programming, online access, and library card promotion at their outreach event; This is NOT a general library promotion program.Participating libraries shall understand that this program is designed to support only one book per child or per family, depending on the size of your event. This program shall NOT be used to give children at your outreach event a new book each week or each time you visit;Participating libraries are encouraged to seek out local businesses and partners to help fund additional paperback books for these on-going and future outreach efforts;Participating libraries shall submit a final summary report for our outreach event/s 2 -3 weeks after the conclusion of the outreach event; Remembering to submit the summary report is the responsibility of the person who makes the LOC request.Books provided through this program will NOT be given to students during a school assembly presentation (ICfL no longer supports this method as it has proven ineffective for lack of parental contact);Books provided through this program will NOT be used for Dia de los Ninos (unless the Dia event is an outreach event), Idaho Family Reading Week or any in-house Summer Reading program events;

IMPORTANT NOTES - Please read before proceeding:

Library Outreach to Children requests must be submitted at least 2 weeks in advance of your outreach event - and 3-4 weeks in advance is preferred. Requests made less than 2 weeks in advance of the event may be declined due to staff workload.

This program is designed to support the following types of library outreach efforts:

Outreach at a public event (i.e. Kids Day in the Park)
Outreach at a school event (i.e. family literacy night)
Outreach at a community partner event (i.e. Community Baby Shower)
Outreach at a local Head Start, Early Head Start or other daycare location (parent night)
Outreach at a low-income health clinic for families (partnership)
Outreach at a WIC Clinic or other food bank (partnership)
Outreach through supporting Library in a Box or Little Library receptacles in various locations (one-time only for this type, not on-going stocking of these little libraries)

This is not an exhaustive list of eligible outreach events. Your library may be offering another outreach effort that is not listed here and is still eligible.

Consider the information above as you complete Question #1 below:

Question #1: In one sentence, in your own words, please describe your library outreach event:*

Question #2: Please describe your library outreach event in detail. Provide information about: the types of literacy activities you plan to provide during outreach, material you plan to hand out, planned promotion, and how you hope to incorporate face-to-face interaction with children and their caregivers about literacy and your library's programs and services. This is NOT a general library promotion event. *

Question #3: Please list any community partner/s with whom you are working to implement this outreach event/project. Describe their role in this outreach effort. *

Question #4: How many paperback books will each child attending your outreach event receive from your library?*

Enter numerical number

Question #5: (Optional) IF you answered more than 1 in the above question, where will the other books being coming from? Who/what organization will provide these additional books per child?

Question #6: Number of children you are planning to serve at this event/s:*

Enter a numerical number

Question #7: Describe how/why your library has identified these children as being "underserved" or "hard-to-serve."*

Question #8: Enter the date or dates for your outreach event/s. NOTES: 1) ICfL will plan to ship the requested books to your library so they are received 1 week before the date listed here; 2) Summary reports are due to ICfL 2-3 weeks after your outreach event/s conclude, with a fiscal year-end deadline for all requests by September 15 each year.*

Enter a numerical date in this format: xx/xx/xx

Book Request Limitations:

The Library Outreach to Children Program has the following limits on book requests for this year:

Number of Requests - max. of 2 school year outreach events per library branch, per fiscal year and 1 summer outreach events per library branch, per program year; (Any summer outreach requests must be recieved by June 15 each year even if your event is later in the summer).
Books per Child - in general, this program is meant to provide up to 1 book per child attending your outreach event and is not meant to provide books to the same children repeatedly. Please consider this limitation when requesting your books.
Board Books - max. of 50 Board books total - any combo of Eng/Sp/Bilingual
Eng/Spanish Bilingual Books - max. of 200 Eng/Sp Bilingual books, including Board Books, unless it is a special case that is discussed with Kristina or Emily ahead of request.
Spanish Books - in general we only have books in Spanish up to about 3rd or 4th grade level. Please do not request Spanish books higher than this age range.
World Language Books - We also have a few bilingual books in some additional languages (see bilingual request table below). Please request these as needed, just know these are much more limited in quantity and we will do our best to fill your request or communicate with you about it. If large quantities of world language books are wanted, please consult with Kristina beforehand, at least 6 weeks in advance of the outreach event, as a special book order may be required by ICfL staff in order to accomodate.
Overall Total - max. request total not to exceed 500 books per outreach event;
If you are looking for additional options for discounted or free books for your outreach efforts, please see the list compiled by ICfL staff posted on the Library Outreach to Children web page (at the bottom, under "Documents"): https://libraries.idaho.gov/outreach/outreach-to-children/

If these limitations keep you from implementing your original outreach plan, please contact us to discuss possible options.

Question #9: PLEASE READ! English or Spanish Books Request Table: Please complete the table below. PLEASE PAY CLOSE ATTENTION TO THE TABLE HEADINGS AND THE BOOK LIMITS DESCRIBED BELOW. Use the 'Tab' key to move through the table, NOT the 'Enter' key. (Consider limitations described above and an average of 1 book per child.)

	English	Spanish (only avail. up to 3rd/4th grade)
Babies/Toddler (i.e Board books)
PreK - 1st grade
2nd-3rd grade
4th-6th grade
7th-8th grade
9th - 12th grade

Sub-Total: Number of English and/or Spanish books requested in table above:

Enter a numeric number

Question #10: Bilingual Books/World Language Books Request Table: Please complete the table below. Use the 'Tab' key to move through the table, not the 'Enter' key. (Consider limitations on bilingual books outlined above.) Note: bilingual books are only available up to about a 2nd grade level.

	Arabic-English Bilingual	Chinese-English Bilingual	Dari-English Bilingual	French-English Bilingual	Pashtu-English Bilingual	Russian-English Bilingual	Spanish-English Bilingual	Swahili-English Bilingual	Ukrainian-English Bilingual
Babies/Toddler (i.e Board books)
PreK - 2nd grade

Sub-Total: Number of Bilingual/World Language books requested in table above:

Enter a numeric number

Question #11: How many books total are you requesting today? Add up the sub-totals in the boxes above and enter the Total here:*

Enter a numeric number

Question #12: ICfL typically mails all requested LOC books to the requesting library, however, IF your library is located nearby AND you want to pick up your materials from ICfL's downtown Boise office, please let us know by making your selection below:*

Please mail my requested LOC books/boxesI will come pick up my requested LOC books/boxes - please notify me when they are ready!

Next Steps:

After you select "Submit Outreach Request", you will automatically receive an email "Thank You" response verifying your submission, as well as an email with a pdf of your submitted application for your records. If you do not receive the "thank you" screen or the auto-email, please contact me ASAP so I can confirm that your request was received.

If you have any questions about this program or your request, please contact Emily Riggan at the Idaho Commission for Libraries, (208) 639-4171 or (800) 458-3271 or at emily.riggan@libraries.idaho.gov.