WASHINGTON – Today, U.S. Senators Mark Warner and Tim Kaine announced $644,392 in federal funding for three Virginia colleges and universities through the Institute of Museum and Library Services (IMLS). The funding, which will go to Hampton University, the Virginia Community College System, and Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University (Virginia Tech), will be awarded through National Leadership Grants or grants from the Laura Bush 21st Century Librarian Program in Virginia.

“We’re pleased these three institutions in Virginia will have the investments they need to improve their work in library and information sciences,” the Senators said. “We know this funding will help these institutions grow and support students, teachers, and important research for many years to come.”

The following grants were awarded under Laura Bush 21^st Century Librarian Program:

• Hampton University will receive $99,980 in federal funding for minority recruitment and retention in the Library and Information science field.
• The Virginia Community College System Office will receive in $449,388 in federal funding for a project dedicated to developing and assessing innovative services to improve library support and student success.

The following grant was awarded through the National Leadership Grants for Libraries:

• Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University will receive $95,024 in federal funding to develop library strategy for 3D and virtual reality collection development and reuse.

National Leadership Grants for Libraries (NLG) support projects that address challenges faced by the library and archive fields and that have the potential to advance library and archival practice with new tools, research findings, models, services, or alliances that can be widely replicated.

The Laura Bush 21st Century Librarian Program (LB21) supports projects to recruit and educate the next generation of librarians, faculty, and library leaders.

This cycle, NLG awarded 31 grants totaling $5,557,160. An additional $632,026 in non-federal spending will be leveraged. LB21 awarded 18 grants totaling $4,659,763 and will be supplemented by nearly $2 million in non-federal spending.

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