ALA Disaster Relief Fund Provides Grants to 20 Libraries in Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands

Thanks to hundreds of donors contributing $80,000 toward relief, the American Library Association (ALA) is pleased to announce that 20 libraries in Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands will receive grants to assist in recovery from the damage wrought by Hurricanes Irma and Maria last year.

Thirteen libraries in Puerto Rico and seven libraries in the U.S. Virgin Islands have been awarded $4,000 grants from ALA.  Grant recipients are school, public, and academic libraries. A review panel of members from REFORMA, the National Association to Promote Library and Information Services to Latinos and Spanish Speakers, and ALA’s America’s Committee made the selections from a list of 100 applications. A list of grantee libraries can be found at Caribbean Library Grant.

With the grants, libraries will receive computers, dehumidifiers, books and other resources that will allow them to again provide much needed access to information to residents in their communities.

“I would like to thank all the ALA members and other library supporters who have contributed to help colleagues in Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands,” said ALA President Jim Neal.  “So many libraries are still in desperate need in the Caribbean, and I encourage everyone to contribute in whatever way they can.”

Make a donation online to ALA’s Disaster Relief Fund to help libraries in the Caribbean recover and rebuild.  ALA is 501(c)3 and donations are tax deductible.

In addition to the support provided through its Disaster Relief Fund, ALA has successfully matched twenty-three libraries to libraries in Puerto Rico and elsewhere in the Caribbean through its Adopt-a-Library initiative. More libraries in the Caribbean are interested in being adopted. To learn more about the program contact, Nick Swieg at nsweig@ala.org or sign up at Adopt A Library (Puerto Rico, U.S. Virgin Islands, Caribbean).

Through a generous grant from the National Network of Libraries of Medicine Southeastern Atlantic Region (award number 1600679), ALA was able to provide computers and additional equipment to five libraries—two public libraries in the U.S. Virgin Islands, and two community libraries and one academic library in Puerto Rico.