May 1, 2018
Joy Webb
With a recently accepted grant, The Kraemer Family Library will realize their vision of growing the library’s graphic novel collection and providing a creative community for veterans.
In June, the library will receive a $4,000 grant from the American Library Association and Anne Eisner Family Foundation to expand their graphic novel collection and further the “Through the Eyes of Veterans: A Community Collaboration” project.
The project will fund creative workshops for student veterans and allow the library to participate in a community collaborative effort in a partnership with the Colorado Springs Bemis School of Art’s Military Artistic Healing for Active Duty & Veterans. The final exhibit will take place in the spring of 2019.
The library will receive a total of $2,000 worth of books from the grant.
“I think that this is a great example of how the library can partner with both groups on campus and other groups in the community, and that a lot of what we do is show how our collections can also help people connect,” said Martin Garnar, dean of the library.
The objective of the Will Eisner Graphic Novel Growth Grant for Libraries, the grant that the library will receive, helps promote community involvement, said Carlos Duarte, instruction librarian and instructor for the Kraemer Family Library.
The growth grant specifically focuses on assisting libraries that have an existing graphic novel collection that they would like to expand, along with services and programs they would like to provide with the funding.
With the funding from the grant, the library already has plans for what to do with the money to benefit all students, according to Garnar.
“The Eisner library is about 75 books and then the graphic novels that get nominated is 100 books, so its 175 books, plus the $2,000 worth of books that we will be able to buy,” said Garnar.
The grant showcases the library’s, and others’, special missions, according to Garnar.
“The library is a place where people come together,” he said.
For more information on the Kraemer Family Library, uccs.edu/library/.