In the fall of 2020 with support from the ZSR Board of Visitors, we started offering innovation grants to ZSR faculty and staff to encourage experimentation and new ideas. These grants have made activities from workshops to Little Free Libraries possible. Grants range in size from $50 to $2,000 and you can read about some previous grants. We made two awards in this past academic year and they are described below. Applications by ZSR staff and faculty for 2024-2025 will be accepted on the rolling basis – please contact the Dean’s Office for information on how to apply.

Early Career Faculty Workshops

Kathy Shields (RIO), with support from Roz Tedford (RIO), Molly Keener (DISC), Kyle Denlinger (DISC), Amanda Kaufman (RIO), Denice Lewis (RIO), Colleen Foy (RIO) Tanya Zanish-Belcher (SCA), Megan Mulder (SCA), and Rebecca May (SCA) submitted this proposal in May. They were awarded $2,000 to develop and offer a four-part workshop series designed primarily for new faculty (defined as faculty at any rank who have been at WFU for 5 years or less). This workshop series would introduce faculty to targeted library services and resources that support teaching and research. The workshops will be developed over the summer and offer over the course of the coming academic year. This project directly supports the ZSR Strategic Framework goals.

Evidence Based Health Sciences for Librarians Workshop

Colleen Foy (RIO) received a $700 grant to help her attend this workshop. The learning objectives of workshop will help Colleen develop evidence synthesis (ES) service menu options at ZSR over the next one to two years. Colleen will also be developing an ES course planned for the fall of 2025. These activities directly support the goals of the University’s and Library’s strategic frameworks.