On Friday, January 7, 2022 we got news that the National Endowment for the Arts American Rescue Plan Act grant SWAN submitted was not selected. This grant would have provided SWAN libraries an opportunity to use a fully licensed Beanstack reading challenge software platform. Currently more than 48 of our public libraries are using Beanstack. We will be including a shared license to Beanstack for libraries that would like to use a SWAN instance, as part of the next budget for approval.
If you would like to pursue an individual Beanstack license for your library, branded and managed by your library to reflect your specific reading challenges, you can reach out to Lindsey Hill, Director Library & Corporate Accounts at Zoobean, at lindsey@zoobean.com or at 317-344-9314. Be sure to let Lindsey know that you are a SWAN library.
Below is the message we received from NEA.
We regret to inform you that the following application submitted to the National Endowment for the Arts American Rescue Plan (ARP): Grants to Organizations program is not among those selected for funding:
Applicant: System Wide Automated Network
We understand this is disappointing news, especially in light of the challenges the COVID-19 pandemic continues to pose for the nation’s arts community. We recognize a substantial amount of effort is invested in each application, and that your organization and many others are working diligently to keep staff members and artists paid, doors open, and the arts central to our daily lives.Available funds for this program total $57.8 million, and the Arts Endowment received an unprecedented total request amount of $695 million from more than 7,500 eligible applicants, 568 of which will receive grants. Though the selection process was extremely competitive, we took great care to ensure that each application received a thoughtful and thorough review. Please understand that, due to the volume of the requests, we are unable to provide individualized feedback to applicants.
