The Board of the Friends of the San Diego Public Library is pleased to announce the establishment of the E.T. Perry Centennial Chapter Grant Program. Under the program, the FSDPL will offer financial support to affiliate chapters facing organizational challenges, which could include, but are not limited to, helping the chapter function better, building its Board, increasing its membership, improving engagement, and/or serving its community better.

The grant program honors E. T. Perry, who celebrated his 100th birthday in January 2022, for his decades of dedicated service to the FSDPL and the city’s libraries. "E.T.," as he preferred to be called, served as the FSDPL's treasurer for 25 years and as treasurer of the College-Rolando chapter for even longer. In addition, he assisted a number of other chapters by providing his treasurer expertise, helping chapters that were struggling to serve their libraries, especially those in under-resourced areas. E.T. passed away in suddenly in early February, just 3 weeks following his milestone birthday. He is truly missed.

The grants are to be awarded annually, with one or more of the FSDPL affiliate chapters selected for the award each year.

Affiliate chapters of the FSDPL are invited at this time to apply for a chapter grant. To be eligible, in addition to submitting their applications, chapters must be in good standing and be current with reporting requirements.

The form asks chapters seeking grants to indicate the area(s) — Board recruitment, membership recruitment, publicity and communication, effective fundraising, team-building support, and/or other — in which support is needed and to provide a narrative describing the issue(s) the chapter wants to address, how it plans to use the funds if it receives a grant, and what outcomes are expected to be achieved.

One additional point: Chapters receiving grants will be required to periodically report, relatively simply, how they've used the funds and the progress they've made toward meeting the outcomes they hoped to achieve.

Please note: There is a deadline for applying. Applications for a 2022 E.T. Perry Centennial Chapter Grant must be received by 6:00 P.M. on Friday, July 15, 2022.