Applications are available for Let's Talk About It: Jewish Literature - Identity and Imagination, a new initiative that will award grants to up to 200 public and academic libraries across the country. To obtain a grant application and guidelines, please visit: www.ala.org/publicprograms or www.nextbook.org/ala. Applications for the first grant round must be received by June 1, 2004.

The National Endowment for the Humanities, Division of Preservation and Access, is in its fifth year of awarding small grants of up to $5,000 to help small and mid-size institutions. Among those eligible are libraries, museums, archives, community colleges, underserved departments within colleges and universities, and historical societies. The purpose of the grant program is to enhance an institution's capacity to preserve its humanities collections. The application deadline is May 14, 2004. For more details see: www.neh.gov/grants/guidelines/pag.html

The U. S. Department of Education Improving Literacy Through School Libraries Program promotes local strategies to improve student reading achievement by improving school library services and resources. School districts in which 20 percent of the students are from families with incomes below the poverty line are eligible to apply. Letters of intent are due April 27; applications are due May 20. Details are at: www.ed.gov/programs/lsl/index.html.