Summer STEM from Your Library Grant

Summer STEM from Your Library Grant is sponsored by Idaho Commission for Libraries. This grant is open to publicly funded school, public, tribal, or academic Idaho libraries. The application for this year's grant is currently open.

Summer STEM Grants – Idaho Commission for Libraries Supporting STEM outreach activities during the summer The Idaho Commission for Libraries (ICfL) awards up to 70 public, tribal, school, or academic libraries $500 each to help pay for materials or presenters to support STEM outreach efforts during the summer. The ICfL also provides a toolkit for learning activities and other resources.

The Summer STEM from Your Library program has three primary goals: Increase access to fun, engaging, hands-on STEM activities for underserved youth beyond the normal library programming efforts. Increase children’s access to books over the summer months. Increase the number of children who minimize learning loss during the summer.

The grant application for 2026 will open on January 15, 2026. This year’s application will use Euna/AmpliFund . Please take a few moments to review the AmpliFund User Guide (PDF).

This resource provides step-by-step instructions for registering, navigating the system, and managing grant-related tasks. Here is a link to a recorded info session on the new application process . Application Closed for 2026 Publicly funded school, public, tribal, or academic libraries in Idaho that are compliant with Idaho’s grant eligibility guidelines (found here: https://libraries.

idaho. gov/grants-funding/grant-eligibility/ ) Provide STEM activities for a minimum of five weeks during the months of May – August 31, 2026. Provide the ICfL with the final number of people who engaged in Summer STEM activities and a summary of STEM experiences funded with the grant.

Expend all grant funds on allowable expenses by end of grant period. Complete a summary report of how the STEM resources enhanced the library’s summer outreach (photos of programs are also encouraged). Applications that meet the grant requirements will be awarded funding on a first-come, first-served basis.

All types of publicly funded libraries in Idaho may apply, but only libraries providing STEM activities during the summer will be considered. Application period: January 15 – February 18, 2026. After you apply, a confirmation email will be sent to you and to your Director (public and academic libraries) or School Principal (school libraries).

Distribution of funds: March or early April 2026 Summer STEM programs: May 1 – August 31, 2026 Summary Report due: September 15, 2026 This notes page will help you gather information for your Summary Report .

This updated Summer STEM Toolkit from 2022 Summer STEM Experiments from 2019 grant recipients STEM Outreach Activities Toolkit Summer Reading Outreach Guidebook Planning your Summer STEM outreach programs: Use the new STEM Toolkit to plan great activities and check out our STEAM Learning Resources page for lots of great ideas for your programs. During your programs, briefly explain the STEM concept that you are introducing.

Make sure to include new vocabulary words for kids to learn during your activity. Partners: Consider partnering with a summer nutrition program; for school or academic libraries, try partnering with your local public library.

Books: Try to provide access to books at your events – take bins of Little Libraries for kids to take and return, get gently used books from your Friends of the library group to hand out during outreach programs, etc. Record statistics: You should track the following at every program for your summary report (we need this info when we are preparing our report for the STEM Action Center, which is generously providing funding for this program – we even made a fancy tracking sheet to make it easier): How many people participated SPEND ALL YOUR GRANT FUNDS: Your grant award of $500 can be used to purchase supplies for your STEM program, manipulatives, or books; to bring in awesome presenters; and up to 10% can be used on promotional materials.

Save your receipts . You will need to submit receipts that show all the expenditures for your Summer STEM purchases with your summary report. If your receipts contain multiple purchases for other programs, help us out by clearly highlighting Summer STEM expenditures or creating a separate spreadsheet of expenditures and submitting it along with your receipts.

You can scan and upload your receipts when you submit your final report or contact Jennifer to make alternate arrangements ( jennifer. redford@libraries. idaho.

gov) Be afraid to try something new: Learning STEM is all about trying, failing, and trying again. This grant is a great opportunity to stretch yourself and learn something new! Forget to record your statistics: We’re not asking for a lot of information, and it’s crucial for future funding requests.

Final Grant Report Instructions Before Submitting Your Report Gather the following info (if you have been using our tracking sheet or the Report Notes document , this won’t take long): A general description of the STEM activities that the grant funded, including important outcomes and lessons learned . The total number of in-person programs and take-home kits that you offered as part of this grant.

The total number of people who attended your Summer STEM programs. The number of weeks that you held Summer STEM programs. The location(s) of your Summer STEM programs.

Be ready to briefly describe how you spent your grant funds. Scan your receipts for Summer STEM purchases and be ready to upload them in your report. If you are unable to scan your receipts (or take a picture of them), contact Jennifer to make alternate arrangements: jennifer.

redford@libraries. idaho. gov You will need to submit your report in the Euna grants portal.

During the Summer STEM grant meeting last spring, we recorded a demonstration of accessing your grant in Euna and generating your report using the “Create Report” function. You can view the recording here (make sure to fast forward to the 32-minute mark). If you are still having trouble accessing your report, reach out Rosie for help: Rosie.

Espinoza@libraries. idaho. gov .

After you have completed your last Summer STEM program, fill out the Summary Report by September 15, 2026. You can access the report in the Euna Grants portal. Want to know more about the evolution of the Summer STEM grant?

Check out this article . If you have any questions about this program or your application, please contact Youth Services Consultant Jennifer Redford at jennifer. redford@libraries.

idaho. gov, (208) 639-4147 or Grants/Contracts Officer Jamie Thill at jamie. thill@libraries.

gov, (208) 639-4153. Library Development Consultant Email Jennifer / 208-639-4147