Lunch at the Library Partner Project

Grant Funds Available For All California Public Libraries to Support Nutrition Services & Programming for Children and Youth
Fall & Winter 2023

California Library Association’s Lunch at the Library Partnership Project has grant funds available for all interested California Public Libraries to support meal and nutrition services for children and youth in 2023. Working in partnership with the California State Library's Lunch at the Library program, CLA’s Partner Project provides grants to complement and extend the State Library’s Summer 2023 Lunch at the Library grant activities.

**Submit an application via the application portal HERE**

Which California public libraries can apply?

• ●California public libraries that have applied for and already received 2023 Lunch at the Library summer funding that are looking to expand the scope of their meal related programming to fall and winter nutrition/meal/snack programming and enrichment; build or maintain partnerships with nutrition providers/community food banks, engage in promotion and outreach.
• ●California public libraries that may have missed the CA State Library's 2023 Lunch at the Library funding deadline but would like to engage in fall and/or winter nutrition/meal/snack programming and enrichment; build partnerships with nutrition providers and/or community food banks; engage in promotion and outreach.
• ●California public libraries looking to establish themselves as key community food and nutrition resources and/or distribution hubs throughout the year. Funds are available to support efforts to establish libraries as essential partners, distributors and/or promoters of nutrition and meal information and resources in order to address nutrition and food insecurity year round, thereby increasing the number of families looking to the library as a nutrition resource when food insecurity is at its highest, during the critical summer months. Libraries become key food and nutrition hubs in their communities resulting in increased summer meal attendance and awareness.

What activities can funds be used to support?
Funding can be used to support a wide range of activities including:

• ●Library Meal Sites and Enrichment Programming: Jurisdictions serving fall or winter 2023 meals and/or snacks and providing enrichment programming at library sites.
• ●Pop-Up Libraries at Community Meal Sites: Jurisdictions taking pop-up library programming out to community meal sites outside of regular school hours or during breaks (fall or winter 2023).
• ●Home Library Building (book give-aways) and/or Learning & Exploration Take Home Activity Kits at Meal Sites: Funds can support meal site book-giveaways to build home libraries and take-home activity kit distribution at meal sites to extend learning and exploration beyond the walls of food distribution locations (fall or winter 2023).
• ●Food Bank Distribution Partnerships: Partnerships with food banks that support the distribution of produce and grocery staples at the library or at other food bank distribution sites and that provide enrichment programming and/or books for home libraries (fall or winter 2023).
• ●Youth Development: Jurisdictions providing teens with workforce readiness skills as they assist with meal programs at library and/or community meal sites.
• ●Farm to Table Programming: Jurisdictions connecting children, teens, and families with locally sourced, sustainable food, and provide related hands-on food education and enrichment activities (fall or winter 2023) as part of a library or community meal/snack program.
• ●Innovative Approaches & Ideas for Library Outreach and Promotion Efforts: Funds can support libraries that implement innovative and larger-scale efforts to promote and connect more children, teens, and families with nutritious meals and food resources during the summer.
• ●Research, Planning & Site Visits: Not serving summer meals at your library? Not providing pop-up programming at a community summer meal site? Curious and interested? Funds are available to support program planningand site visit travel to observe successful library fall and winter meal sites and pop-up library sites.
• ●Libraries as Conveners: Funds can help libraries develop and build local or regional networks and coalitions that focus on connecting more families with nutritious summer meals and foster collaboration in working together to reduce summer hunger.

Why?
CLA’s Lunch at the Library Partner grant opportunity supports the Lunch at the Library program and helps connect more families with the USDA Summer Food Service Program; it increases and strengthens library and food bank partnerships; and supports other innovative efforts that connect more families to both nutritious food and library programming and services.

When?
Applications for Fall and Winter 2023 funding will be accepted on a first come first served basis through November 15th, 2023. Funds should be encumbered by February 15th, 2024.

How do I apply for funding?

**Submit an application via the application portal HERE.**

Please contact CLA’s Lunch at the Library Partner Project team at latl@cla-net.org with any questions you have or ideas that you’d like to share. We are looking forward to hearing from you!

Patricia Garone & Kari Johnson, Co-Project Coordinators

The CLA Lunch at the Library Partner Project

latl@cla-net.org

The CLA Lunch at the Library Partner Project is supported in whole or in part by funding provided by the State of California, administered by the California State Library.