Scholarships

All full-time personnel employed by Arizona libraries and archives are eligible to apply for a scholarship to learn best practices of their profession and provide continuing education at their institutions or to the Arizona library and archives community at large. This may be fulfilled by preparing an article of 500 – 750 words or a PowerPoint of 5 - 10 slides that will be shared through email, in a newsletter, at a staff meeting, or at a continuing education event.

Scholarships are available in $100 increments starting at $250 up to a maximum of $1250. In deciding at which level to apply, please consider the number of hours required for preparation/presentation of the work product. Other costs to consider may include the costs of your attendance at a national, state, or local workshop, institute, conference, or webinar. Scholarships are not available for formal library courses through a university or community college.

A copy of the article or PowerPoint and the conference agenda will be due to the Arizona State Library’s Continuing Education Consultant in electronic format within 30 business days from returning to work after the CE event. The State Library reserves the right to share in print or post online the document or slides for educational purposes, such as posting to its website or submitting the article to the AzLA Newsletter.

Scholarships may be paid to individuals (taxable), or they may be paid to an entity such as a town, county, library, etc.

To request a Continuing Education Scholarship, all applicants must submit a scholarship application and W-9 (for the individual or organizational payee) at least 60 days prior to the date of the event. The required application and W-9 forms are available for download below. Scholarships will be processed for payment upon receipt of the work product and conference agenda.

Scholarships will be considered on a first-come, first-served basis. The Arizona State Library reserves the right to award scholarships at a lower amount than requested. Applications submitted retroactively will not be considered.

Scholarships are funded with Library Services and Technology Act (LSTA) funds from the Institute of Museum and Library Services and may be granted only when federal funds are available.

Please note: The deadline to apply for scholarship funds for the 2024 Arizona Library Association (AzLA) Annual Conference is Friday, August 30.