For the first time in their history, Dane County libraries will share a growing pool of programming money to propose, plan and promote new projects. Every library, either alone or in partnership with each other, will have access to these funds. This unique endowment will enable and extend collaborative and innovative humanities projects in every library’s community.
The Humanities
Humanities enrich our understanding and appreciation of all things human, comprising a wide array of subjects and library collections including: Arts, Drama, Film History, History, Language, Law, Literature, Philosophy, Religious Studies and World Culture.
The Beyond the Page Fund will support programming in a variety of categories:
Speaker's Fund will provide resources to individual libraries for hosting writers, artists, scholars and experts.
Lecture Series will involve large-scale, themed, collaborative initiatives, jointly organized and promoted by groups of libraries.
Major System-wide Projects will be designed for multiple audiences and focus on a central theme, planned and executed by a team of librarians and humanities partners. Examples include county-wide reads or year-long celebrations of a particular subject.
Summer Library Program enhancements will bring a stronger humanities focus to library summer reading efforts engaging children, tweens, teens and adults in enriching and stimulating educational endeavors.
Mobile Outreach will provide resources for libraries to convey humanities materials out of the libraries and into the community. For instance, humanities-themed backpacks containing books and multimedia, and displays for organizational events and cultural celebrations promoting various library collections.
Traveling Exhibits will furnish funding to enable DCLS to borrow exhibits from national and state education, arts, and humanities organizations, and display them at libraries throughout the county.
The Beyond the Page Fund will offer public libraries in Dane County a single, simple, and nimble source for grant funding to support this wide array of humanities programs and events.