In April 1998, PAL members voted to provide one to two grants to enable support staff employed at PAL libraries to attend KLA -sponsored conferences or workshops. Applicants are required to observe the following guidelines:

1.     Applicants must be support or paraprofessional staff, i.e., personnel who do not possess a graduate library degree, but are engaged in the daily operations of their library, or personnel who do possess a library degree, but do not have faculty or administrative status within their organization.

2.     Applicants must have been continuously employed at a PAL library for the past two years.

3.     Applications must be submitted and approved prior to the conference or workshop to be attended.  (Applications are available from the PAL Chairperson or Secretary/Treasurer or from the PAL web page.)

4.     Applications must have the library director’s or supervisor’s signature, verifying that the applicant will be allowed to attend the conference or workshop if awarded the grant.

5.     Applicants must submit an evaluative report (no more than two pages) to the PAL Chairperson within one month after attending the conference or workshop. The report should describe the conference or workshop attended, and include a summary of how the opportunity enhanced their career growth. For the benefit of the membership, the report may be shared with other PAL or AlA members.

6.     Preference will be given to applicants who are full-time library employees and who have never received a PAL grant.

7.     PAL awards grants for registration costs up to $50 per conference or workshop. PAL may choose to split the grants between two applicants if the applicants indicate that institutional funds are available.  The PAL Chairperson, Secretary/Treasurer, and one at-large PAL member chosen by the Chairperson will make the grant decisions.

8.     Applications will be accepted twice a year with the deadlines of September 1 and February 1. Grants will be awarded within one month of the application deadlines. A report of grants awarded and their recipients will be presented to the PAL membership at the CULS conference or Kansas Library Conference.

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