Grants for Libraries: Who Funds Public and School Libraries

Grants for libraries come from federal library programs that run through each state's library agency, from private foundations, and from national programs run by library associations and publishers. GrantCue's analysis of IRS Form 990-PF returns found 8,915 private foundations that paid $631 million to libraries and library groups in 19,266 grants in tax years 2021 to 2025, and 2,807 of those foundations list how to apply on their latest return.

Quick Answer: Where can a library get grant money?

A library can get grants from its state library agency, which passes on federal money through subgrants, from private foundations, and from national programs run by federal agencies, library associations and publishers. More than 8,900 foundations paid libraries or library groups in tax years 2021 to 2025, and over half of their grants were under $5,000.

How do I get funding for a library?

Start with your state library agency and the foundations that already pay libraries in your county, then add national programs once you have a project that fits one.

Each source suits a different need. The state library agency runs the subgrants paid for with federal money, and some states add a program of their own, such as Colorado's State Grants to Libraries (Colorado Department of Education, read November 2026). Local foundations give small grants, most of them for general support. National programs pay for projects other libraries could copy, or for a defined group such as rural libraries or Friends groups.

A library may have a Friends of the Library group or a library foundation, a separate nonprofit that raises money for it, and some funders pay that group rather than the library. In a sample of 30 typical foundation grants to libraries from the returns, 11 went to a Friends group or a library foundation.

What federal grants are there for libraries?

The main federal source is the Institute of Museum and Library Services (IMLS, read November 2026): its Grants to States program funds every state library agency, and its National Leadership Grants for Libraries are a national competition whose FY 2027 round had a November 13, 2026 deadline.

Grants to States

Grants to States is the largest source of federal funding for library services. More than $160 million a year goes to the state library administrative agencies, a base amount for each plus a supplement based on population, and the agencies use it for statewide services and for competitive subawards to public, academic, research, school and special libraries; for-profit and federal libraries are not eligible (IMLS, Grants to States, read November 2026). About 1,500 projects a year are funded this way, from summer reading and e-books to bookmobiles and digitized collections. The program has not paid for library construction since 1996, when the law shifted its focus to information technology. Each state agency's address and contact are on IMLS's state profiles page.

National Leadership Grants for Libraries

National Leadership Grants for Libraries (NLG-L) fund projects that develop, enhance or adapt practices, programs, models or tools that strengthen library and archival services. The FY 2027 round had a deadline of November 13, 2026, subject to the availability of funds; after that, watch the program page for the next notice (IMLS, National Leadership Grants for Libraries, read November 2026).

Source: IMLS, National Leadership Grants for Libraries, read November 2026. Eligibility is set out in the FY 2027 notice.

For a single library, Community-Centered Implementation grants have the smallest awards and no cost share. Before a larger request, read what a federal match requirement means.

E-Rate

E-Rate is a discount rather than a grant: the program, run by the Universal Service Administrative Company, pays part of the cost of internet access, telecommunications services and related equipment for K-12 schools, libraries and groups of them, after the library runs competitive bidding and applies for discounts (USAC, E-Rate, read November 2026).

Is federal library funding being cut?

IMLS is still making grants, but its funding has been contested. A March 2025 executive order directed the agency's elimination, and the administration began terminating its grants; a federal court in Rhode Island struck that down on November 21, 2025, and IMLS reinstated all of its grants in early December (American Library Association, release of December 3, 2025, read November 2026). The same ALA page reports that the administration withdrew its appeal in April 2026, that the White House's FY 2027 budget proposal would cut IMLS and Innovative Approaches to Literacy, the federal school library program, and that in June 2026 the FCC advanced a proposal asking whether E-Rate should end or be limited to rural areas. Congress sets the agency's funding each year, so check your state agency's subgrant calendar every year.

Which foundations give grants to libraries?

Ranked by how many libraries each one paid, the leaders are regional trusts and family foundations that fund many small libraries in one state, and company foundations whose employee programs send small gifts to many.

Five of the foundations that paid the most libraries run employee giving: The Pfizer Foundation (65 recipients, median $150), JPMorgan Chase Foundation (54, median $200), Edward Jones Foundation (50, median $125), Baird Foundation (33, median $250) and Verizon Foundation (27, median $120). That money follows where employees give or volunteer, and a library cannot apply for it. Texas Instruments, Alliant Energy, Chubb and Analog Devices paid 15 to 35 libraries each, with medians of $100 to $280.

Leaving those out, these foundations paid the most libraries:

Source: GrantCue's analysis of IRS Form 990-PF returns, tax years 2021 to 2025 (most foundations have one or two years on file). "Recipients" counts the different libraries and library groups paid. "Based in" is the filing address.

The first row is a school library funder: the William M Cage Library Trust paid 132 recipients, all in Virginia, at a median of $500, and its top recipients include county school divisions. The John Henry Eldred Jr Foundation paid 113 library groups in 19 states at a median of $5,000, among them the American Library Association and county libraries in North Carolina, but its latest return says preselected only.

For a local library, regional funders are the closest fit. Town Pump paid 90 library groups, all in Montana, and its top recipients are county library foundations and a Friends group. The Stephen & Tabitha King Foundation paid 32 Maine libraries and Friends groups at a median of $24,000, though its latest return says preselected only. The Champlin Foundation's 17 library grants all went to Rhode Island, at a median of $65,000. The Priddy Foundation's top library recipients are city governments in Texas and Oklahoma, at a median of $30,000. Smaller one-state funders include the J Frank Dobie Library Charitable Trust, which paid 14 libraries in Texas at a median of $7,805, and the HRBT Foundation, which paid 13 libraries in New York, among them Kinderhook, New Lebanon and Germantown; both list how to apply.

Mellon and Carnegie make large grants. Mellon's top library recipients were the Council on Library and Information Resources ($5.15 million) and Freedom Reads ($5 million), and Carnegie's was the New York Public Library ($3.33 million). Their medians, $500,000 and $280,000, point to national and big-city projects. Ross Stores Foundation, by contrast, has Friends groups in Arizona as its top library recipients, at a median of $1,415.

A ranking by dollars misleads. The two largest gifts in the returns, $33.9 million to a presidential library foundation in North Dakota and $28.9 million to the U.S. foundation of the American Library in Paris, came from two foundations that made no other library grant. And across all 8,915 foundations, 68% (6,100) say preselected only on their latest return. The guide to foundations that do not accept unsolicited proposals explains what that means and how a library can still reach them.

How large are foundation grants to libraries?

Most are small: 55% of foundation grants to libraries were under $5,000, and 85% were under $25,000.

Source: GrantCue's analysis of IRS Form 990-PF returns, tax years 2021 to 2025, the latest return on file for each foundation (91% of these grants fall in tax years 2024 and 2025). Recipients matched by name or grant purpose include public, school, academic and special libraries, library foundations and Friends groups.

The 88 grants of $1 million or more carried 45% of the dollars, so totals say little about what a small library can expect. The middle of the table does: 63% of grants paid between $1,000 and $25,000.

Purpose lines are plain. In a sample of 30 typical grants from the returns, amounts ran from $1,000 to $10,000 with a median of $2,250. Seventeen purpose lines say only general, operating or unrestricted support, and four name a program or a branch, such as $1,000 in tax year 2025 to a Friends group in Janesville, Wisconsin, for literacy programs.

Which states have the most foundations funding libraries?

New York leads by a wide margin, with 1,344 foundations paying libraries there, followed by Pennsylvania (885) and California (777).

Source: GrantCue's analysis of IRS Form 990-PF returns, tax years 2021 to 2025. A row counts the foundations that paid at least one library or library group in that state, wherever the foundation is based. Each state links to GrantCue's free list of the foundations whose largest share of grants goes to that state.

Two gifts make up more than a third of New York's dollars: $28.9 million to the American Library in Paris's U.S. foundation and $23.8 million to the Morgan Library & Museum. Without them, New York recipients received about $95.4 million. Texas has the highest median of the 15, $6,428. Virginia's $500 median reflects the Cage Trust, whose 253 small school library grants are 41% of the state's total. Maine ranks ninth by foundations, ahead of far larger states such as Florida and Michigan. Iowa (181 foundations), North Carolina (179) and Colorado (171) come next.

Are there grants for school libraries?

Yes: school libraries can use E-Rate discounts and state library programs, and a few foundations fund school libraries alone, such as the William M Cage Library Trust in Virginia and The Snapdragon Book Foundation.

The Snapdragon Book Foundation was started in 2008 by a school librarian from Houston and funds projects in PreK-12 schools across the country each year (Snapdragon Book Foundation, home page, read November 2026). Its returns show 46 grants to schools in 25 states at a median of $3,994, and its latest return lists how to apply.

Some states fund school libraries directly. Colorado's State Grants to Libraries, nearly $3 million appropriated in the 2026 legislative session, pay for library materials at publicly funded school, public and academic libraries, one grant per school district or library jurisdiction. For 2026 to 2027, 310 libraries received grants after applications ran from July 1 to September 15, 2026 (Colorado Department of Education, State Grants to Libraries, read November 2026). A school library can also ask its state library agency whether federal subawards are open to school libraries this year.

Open grants for schools, including school libraries, are listed on GrantCue's grants for schools page.

What grants are there for small and rural libraries?

Small and rural libraries have programs of their own from library associations and publishers, and several of the regional foundations above pay small-town libraries.

The Association for Rural & Small Libraries administers the Sustainable & Resilient New England Libraries Grant, funded by The Manton Foundation, for small or rural libraries in Connecticut, Massachusetts, Maine, New Hampshire, Rhode Island and Vermont; it closed for 2026 and opens in early 2027 (ARSL, Grants & Funding Resources, read November 2026). The same page lists ALA's Libraries Transforming Communities: Accessible Small and Rural Communities, with grants of $10,000 to $20,000 from more than $14 million in total; its last round closed December 11, 2025.

Penguin Random House runs U.S. Library Grants with United for Libraries for rural, small and tribal libraries (read November 2026). Grants of $500 and $1,000 go to Friends of the Library groups, and 20 libraries receive $500 book grants; applications run December 8, 2026 to January 25, 2027, with notice by March 31, 2027 (Penguin Random House, read November 2026).

A small library that starts with grants like these builds a record to show larger funders later; small local grants to build a track record covers how.

How to apply for a library grant

Apply first to the funders that already pay libraries in your area, and time each request to that funder's calendar.

1. Ask your state library agency for its subgrant calendar and this year's priorities.
2. Open your state's free foundation list and the profiles of the foundations near you. A profile shows a foundation's largest grants; a free account opens its full grant list, which you can filter by purpose to find its grants to libraries and Friends groups.
3. Read each one's latest 990-PF: the grant list shows who it paid and how much, and the application section shows whether it takes requests. How to read a 990-PF grant list walks through both parts.
4. Decide who applies. If a funder pays only 501(c)(3) organizations, the Friends group or library foundation can be the applicant.
5. Ask for a specific amount for a specific use, close to that funder's usual grant. A sample grant proposal for a library literacy program shows the sections.
6. Put the next windows on the calendar.

A free GrantCue account can save these funders, suggest grants that fit the library's profile, and track each window as a deadline. Open grants for libraries are listed on GrantCue's library grants page.

FAQ

Can a Friends of the Library group apply for grants?

Yes. A Friends group is a separate nonprofit that supports and raises money for its library, and some funders pay it rather than the library. Penguin Random House's U.S. Library Grants, for example, pay $500 or $1,000 to Friends groups of rural, small and tribal libraries, and Ross Stores Foundation's top library recipients are Friends groups. In a sample of 30 foundation grants to libraries, 11 went to a Friends group or a library foundation.

Is IMLS still giving grants to libraries?

Yes. IMLS reinstated its terminated grants in December 2025 after a federal court struck down the order to dismantle the agency, and ALA reports the administration withdrew its appeal in April 2026. The FY 2027 round of National Leadership Grants for Libraries had a November 13, 2026 deadline; check IMLS for the next notice. Grants to States still sends more than $160 million a year to state library agencies, though the FY 2027 budget proposal would cut IMLS.

Is E-Rate a grant for libraries?

Not exactly. E-Rate, run by the Universal Service Administrative Company, is a discount on internet access, telecommunications services and related equipment for K-12 schools, libraries and groups of them. A library creates an account, runs competitive bidding, selects a service provider, applies for discounts and, once approved, invoices USAC. It lowers a recurring bill rather than paying for a project, so programs and materials still need grants.

Are there grants for library buildings and renovations?

IMLS's Grants to States has not paid for library construction since 1996, so building money has to come from elsewhere: local government, a capital campaign, or foundations whose library grants run large, such as The Champlin Foundation, whose 17 library grants in the tax years on file all went to Rhode Island at a median of $65,000. Before asking, read a funder's grant list to see whether it has paid for buildings or equipment.

How much should a library ask a foundation for?

Ask for an amount close to what that foundation usually gives. Across 19,266 foundation grants to libraries in tax years 2021 to 2025, over half were under $5,000 and 85% were under $25,000. In a sample of 30 typical grants, the median was $2,250. Regional funders vary widely: Town Pump's median was $1,000 in Montana, and The Priddy Foundation's was $30,000 in Texas and Oklahoma.

When are library grant deadlines?

Each program sets its own. The FY 2027 round of IMLS's National Leadership Grants for Libraries had a November 13, 2026 deadline, so check IMLS for the next notice. Penguin Random House's U.S. Library Grants take applications from December 8, 2026 to January 25, 2027. ARSL's New England grant opens in early 2027, and Colorado's state grants ran from July 1 to September 15 in 2026. Your state library agency sets the dates for its own subgrants, so ask it for the calendar.

Find the foundations that fund libraries near you

The next step is a short list of the foundations that already pay libraries in your state, with each one's window on a calendar. Start from the foundations that give in your state on GrantCue's free state lists, then create a free GrantCue account to open each one's full grant list, save the ones that have paid libraries, track their deadlines and get alerts when new grants open. For the wider search beyond library programs, the guide to finding grants for nonprofits covers every channel.