For Immediate Release Media Contact: Cherie Hill, Communications Manager, chill@calhum.org
California Humanities is delighted to announce awards for the 2022 Library Innovation Lab (LIL) grant program to eleven public libraries in rural, suburban, and urban communities across the state including Northern California, the San Francisco Bay Area, the Central Valley, and Southern California – Los Angeles, Orange, San Bernardino, and San Diego counties.
Entering its sixth year, this nationally recognized program supports California’s public libraries in welcoming newcomers and fostering more inclusive communities. To date, 52 California libraries have participated in the program, reaching over 40,000 Californians through engaging humanities programming.
LIL provides a nine-month practice-based professional development experience and grants of up to $5,000 to participating libraries. Throughout 2022, the new cohort members will research, design, implement and assess a small-scale, short-term public humanities project at their library. Working in a collaborative learning environment that incorporates group meetings as well as individualized advising, they will acquire new skills and knowledge by experimenting with new approaches to programming and developing capacity to work with immigrants and other key audiences. Afghan, Filipino/a, Mexican, and South Asian immigrants will be among the immigrant groups that will be the focus of this cohort’s work.
“We are proud to welcome this cohort to Library Innovation Lab,” said Julie Fry, President & CEO of California Humanities. “The libraries in this group represent a wide swath of California’s geographic and cultural diversity, and the library staff hold a wide range of experiences; some are immigrants themselves. We know that they’ll continue to build capacity for California libraries to serve all communities in our state, from newly arrived immigrants to longtime residents.”
2022 Library Innovation Lab Awardees:
- Jovanna Ayala, Sonoma County Library Adult Literacy Program
- Sheena Santos, Friends of the Upland Public Library
- Marisa Saam, University Park Branch Library, Orange County Public Libraries
- Eric Cardoso, Los Altos Neighborhood Library, Long Beach Public Library System
- Tamecca Brewer, Alameda County Library
- Bernardo Mazón, City Heights Weingart Library & Performance Annex, San Diego Public Library
- Farima Kafai, Old Town Newhall Branch Library, City of Santa Clarita Public Library
- Maureen Hogan, Escondido Public Library
- Marika Garcia, Sutter County Library
- Toktam Gholami, Woodland Hills Branch, Los Angeles Public Library
- Lauren Morrison, Delano Branch Library, Kern County Library System
The Library Innovation Lab is supported in part by the Wells Fargo Foundation and the generosity of individual donors throughout California. Learn more here.
About California Humanities: California Humanities, a nonprofit partner of the National Endowment for the Humanities, promotes the humanities—focused on ideas, conversation and learning—as relevant, meaningful ways to understand the human condition and connect people to each other in order to help strengthen California. California Humanities has provided grants and programs across the state since 1975. To learn more, visit calhum.org, or like and follow us on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram.
