IMLS Grant

For the last 48 hours we have been working non-stop trying to get everything put together in order to submit an Institute for Library and Museum Service's program grant for the Grants for Learning Labs in Libraries and Museums program. And it really was most of the last 48 hours as the 6-page narrative text for the grant was written while staff staid up all night at the museum's overnight on Saturday.

A grant was submitted this evening in the amount of $95,779.00 for the planning and development of a Learning Lab. IMLS is funding 30 such labs in museums and libraries across the country. We just received confirmation that our application was received and validated at grants.gov. This is the abstract that was submitted:

The Imperial Valley Desert Museum is planning the development of a Learning Lab. At a minimum, the Lab would be a place where community youth would have access to internet, computers, and printers, and a staff member who could tutor or assist with homework, research, and academic projects. As envisioned, the Learning Lab will be a space where youth can explore natural science informally through connecting the natural history of the desert surrounding the museum with technological applications such as video editing, video webcasting, photo manipulation, graphic design, website development, and a new concept we are calling “geo-blogging.”