We are very excited to share the awardees for this year’s Ideas to Action Fund!
The WiLS Board and staff had very hard decisions to make, sifting through intriguing and important ideas proposed by a record-breaking 53 public, academic, and K12 libraries as well as cultural and tribal organizations. We are honored to see the number of proposals grow year after year and to continue to invest in our members’ innovative and collaborative work.
The nine 2024 Ideas to Action Fund Awardees are:
Greenfield Public Library, Adaptive Story Time Expansion: Inclusive Story Sessions for All Ages and Abilities
Greenfield Public Library will expand its Adaptive Story Time program for adults with developmental and intellectual disabilities and create story time programs for elementary and high school-aged kids.
McIntosh Memorial Library, Culinary Literacy Mobile Demonstration Kitchen
McIntosh Memorial Library will provide weekly culinary literacy programming to the community at the Viroqua Farmer’s Market.
Milwaukee Public Library, Library Entrepreneur-in-Residence
The Milwaukee Public Library Entrepreneur-in-Residence (EIR) will leverage library resources to support early stage entrepreneurs and small business owners to conceptualize and grow their ideas and companies through expert led one-on-one mentoring appointments and workshops.
Northwoods Community Elementary School at Rhinelander School District, Sewing Seeds in the Library and Beyond
Students in Grades 2-5 at Northwoods Community Elementary School will learn machine and hand sewing skills to create pillowcases and a quilt to donate back to the community.
Sokaogon Chippewa Community, Welcome To The 21st Century: Digitizing Tribal Analog History
This project will create updated digital files of video and audio interviews with Tribal Elders on a range of topics including language, traditions related to harvesting wild rice, and other varied topics.
Somerset Public Library, Echoes of the Past: Revitalizing Community Heritage Through an Immersive Audio History Tour
This endeavor aims to make Somerset’s rich heritage accessible to diverse audiences through community signage, an interactive map that triggers playback of the oral history recordings on users’ smartphones, and an online repository.
UW-Eau Claire McIntyre Library, Blugold Makerspace Eau Claire Repair Fair
The Repair Fair is an event that expands the library’s mission of sharing knowledge and promoting sustainable practices by connecting community members, students, and skilled repair people to share a wide range of repair and problem-solving skills and techniques.
UW-Parkside Library, Invertebrate Insights: Community-Driven Collection and Education Initiative
The Parkside Library will partner with the Parkside Natural History Collection student organization and other organizations to engage scientists, museum specialists, students (K-12, undergraduate, and graduate), and community members through a series of events and programs with the aim of identifying, cataloging, digitizing, and exhibiting the extensive collection of invertebrates housed at the University of Wisconsin Parkside and improve public access to the collection.
West Bend Public Library, Grow, Cook, Save: A Journey to Food Economy and Healthy Eating
This project aims to empower individuals with the skills needed to cultivate their own gardens, effectively budget for food, and cook nutritious meals.
For our members whose projects were not selected or who have new ideas percolating, look for the next application period is April 2025. Questions? Read more about the Ideas to Action Fund or contact us at information@wils.org.
