Cart/Campbell Grant

The Cart/Campbell Grant for librarians offers $500 funding plus complimentary registration toward attendance at the annual two-day ALAN Workshop which is held at the annual convention of the National Council of Teachers of English on the Monday and Tuesday prior to Thanksgiving Day. Eligible applicants are practicing librarians working with teens in high school, junior high school, middle school, or public libraries. Membership in ALAN is required for consideration. One Campbell/Cart Grant will be awarded annually, and each recipient may only receive the grant once.

Applicants should complete the grant application form (download below), which includes submission of an essay of no more than 1,000 words explaining what they hope to gain by attending the ALAN Workshop and how they hope to use what is learned through the experience in their libraries and/or schools

Applicants must also secure a letter of support from their library director or school principal acknowledging the application and giving permission to attend the ALAN Workshop if the grant is received.

Up to two optional letters of support from school and library colleagues or college faculty members may be included. Additionally, you are encouraged to include one letter from a young adult with whom you currently work describing his or her appreciation for programs, activities, or events you have coordinated for this age group and how he or she feels those have benefited the adolescents in your school and/or community.

The deadline for application submissions is September 1 of the year of the ALAN Workshop to be attended, and the recipient will receive notification by September 15.

Download Form

Criteria for Selection

the applicant’s commitment to library work with teenagers and to promoting Young adult literature
the strength of the applicant’s understanding of the value of young adult literature, goals for the Workshop and a description of plans to use the experiences from the Workshop with students and patrons
the strength of the applicant’s letters of support

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The Cart/Campbell Grant relies on the generosity of people like you who support young adult literature and the work of ALAN. If you’d be interested in showing financial support for this grant and its recipients, click here to make a donation, which will be processed securely and safely through PayPal. Thank you for your support!

About the Cart/Campbell Grant

The Assembly on Literature for Adolescents of NCTE (ALAN) established the Cart /Campbell Grant in Spring 2015 to offer financial support for a librarian working with teens in a high school, junior high school, middle school, or public library to attend an ALAN Workshop. The grant honors the contributions of former ALAN presidents Michael Cart and Patty Campbell, both long-time ALAN members and passionate contributors to the field of Young Adult Literature.

Michael Cart (ALAN President 2003 -2004) was the Director of the Beverly Hills (CA) Public Library and also a Past President of the American Library Association (ALA)’s Young Adult Library Services Association (YALSA) from 1997-1998. A nationally recognized expert in children’s and young adult literature, he has authored, co-authored, or edited nineteen books and anthologies, including Love and Sex: Ten Stories of Truth; My Father’s Scar; The Heart Has Its Reasons; From Romance to Realism: 50 Years of Growth and Change in Young Adult Literature; and Passions and Pleasures: Essays and Speeches about Literature and Libraries. He writes the “Carte Blanche” column and reviews books for Booklist magazine. In 2008, he was the first recipient of the YALSA/Greenwood Publishing Group’s Service to Young Adults Achievement Award and received ALA’s 2000 Grolier Foundation Award for his contribution to the stimulation and guidance of reading by young people.

(Click here for additional biographical information.)

Patty Campbell (ALAN President 2004 – 2005) has been an inspiring, renowned literary critic, author, editor, teacher, and librarian in the field of Young Adult Literature for over forty years. For many years, she also wrote the highly respected column “The Sand in the Oyster” for Horn Book magazine, in which she discussed controversial issues in YA books. Her many book credits include War Is…: Soldiers, Survivors, and Storytellers Talk About War; Robert Cormier: Daring to Disturb the Universe; Twayne’s multi-volume Young Adult Author Series; and Campbell’s Scoop: Reflections on Young Adult Literature. She has served on the Board of Directors of YALSA and ALAN and received ALA’s 1999 Grolier Foundation Award for her contribution to the stimulation and guidance of reading by young people.

(Click here for additional biographical information.)