In honor of National Library Worker Day on April 21st, 2020, the EveryLibrary Institute is proud to be 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.
Through an ongoing national fundraising effort, the EveryLibrary Institute will make one-time, ‘no strings attached’ grants of up to $250 to qualified individuals in the US and territories on a funds-available basis. The HALO Fund is supported by wonderful individual donors, a generous opening contribution from the Awesome Libraries project, and a donor matching campaign from the Urban Librarians Unite team.
If you have lost your job or had your wages significantly reduced, or if a member of your household has lost their job or experienced a significant wage reduction, please apply. Eligibility is limited to library workers, librarians, and library staff from public library, school library, academic library settings, and archives. All applications are confidential.
Personal Eligibility for HALO Grants:
- I am a library worker, librarian or staff member who has lost my job or significant wages because of a coronavirus shutdown or I am experiencing financial hardship because of the need to care for members of my household or others, OR, I am a library worker with a member of my household who has lost their job or had a significant decrease in wages because of a Coronavirus-related shutdown or layoff.
- I (or the member of my household) am seeking enhanced unemployment benefits and other appropriate financial and other supports under the CARES Act, FFCRA, and other state or local programs (see below);
- I am asking for this HALO Grant to help fund personal expenses such as food, rent or mortgage payments, cellphone and internet expenses, medicine, or household needs and I will not use it for illegal activities;
- I am a resident of the US or territories and able to receive a grant from the EveryLibrary Institute by check, PayPal, Venmo, or QuickPay only.
Grants will be made on a rolling basis as funds are available. Applicants may not receive a grant immediately, or at any time, if funds are not available. Applicants will be asked to provide personal information in order for the EveryLibrary Institute to fulfill this grant and to report it properly to the IRS. HALO Grants are one-time grants per individual or household. There is no obligation to repay this grant to the EveryLibrary Institute. Please review the eligibility requirements before you make your application.
If you meet these eligibility requirements and are comfortable with these conditions, please use the form at the right side of this page to submit your application. If you need assistance in filling out this application or if you need this application in another format, such as a PDF or a large-print version, please send that request to john.chrastka@everylibraryinstitute.org. The application is available here.
