OCOM Awarded $58K Library Services & Technology Act Grant from the Oregon State Library

OCOM was recently awarded a $58,362 Library Services & Technology Act (LSTA) grant to enhance the OCOM Library. OCOM’s College Librarian, Lana Thelen, MSLIS, wrote and submitted a preliminary grant proposal in April and a full grant proposal in August in order to be considered.

The OCOM Library will be using the funds to migrate their current stand-alone bibliographic catalog to the shared Portland Health Libraries Consortium Catalog. This catalog currently consists of holdings from Oregon Health & Science University (OHSU), National College of Natural Medicine (NCNM) and Western States Chiropractic College (WSCC).

This project will allow seamless access for all borrowers in the system to materials housed at the four participating institutions. This increased access to consortium holdings will further encourage interactive, cross-disciplinary scholarship.

The grant includes funds for a .5 FTE Systems Librarian for the grant’s one-year duration and funds for all the contractual purchases and data conversion and transfer.

“Lana's efforts in developing a really compelling grant application have borne fruit,” says OCOM’s Vice President for Academic Affairs, Tim Chapman, PhD. “The result will be a major improvement in the services and systems offered by the OCOM Library.”

Each year, the Oregon State Library makes approximately $800,000 in competitive grants in the state to legally established libraries, or nonprofit entities serving libraries. Public, academic and special libraries are eligible. Projects may be funded for up to three years by a series of competitive one-year grants.

For more information, visit the LSTA Competitive Grants Web site.