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WASHINGTON, DC - The Institute of Museum and Library Services (IMLS), the primary source of federal funds for the nation's museums and libraries, awarded $1,720,053 today to 14 Native American tribal communities and Alaska Native villages to improve library services to their communities. The recipients will match the grants with an additional $853,328. For a contact list of today's recipients, please see the attached.

"IMLS commends the Native American Library Enhancement grant recipients for their dedication to their Native American communities and their high level of library service. The recipients are working to improve library holdings, provide essential computer access and training, establish new programming, and improve the lives of Native Americans of all ages," said Dr. Robert S. Martin, Director of the Institute.

Projects funded include among others, digitizing primary source material on the establishment of the North Slope Borough and the Inupiate culture and language in Alaska; enhancing literacy of school-aged and elderly populations through elder/grandchild reading programs at the Pueblo of Santa Clara in New Mexico; and preserving oral histories with tribal elders of the Muscogee (Creek) Nation in Oklahoma.

Native American Enhancement Grants support projects that enhance existing library services or implement new services, particularly projects to establish digital networks or electronic links among libraries or to acquire computer and telecommunications technology.

The Institute of Museum and Library Services is an independent federal grant-making agency dedicated to creating and sustaining a nation of learners by helping libraries and museums serve their communities. The Institute fosters leadership, innovation, and a lifetime of learning by supporting the nation's 15,000 museums and 122,000 libraries. The Institute also encourages partnerships to expand the educational benefit of libraries and museums. To learn more about the Institute, please log on to http://www.imls.gov