California Academic & Research Libraries

The CARL Research Grant was established to provide financial support to encourage CARL members to engage in research and/or publication efforts. A competitive cash sum will be granted to the successful applicant(s). Applicants may apply for grants in the range of $250 to $2000. Grant amount requested must be justified by a budget. Actual amount granted is at the discretion of the Research Grant Committee, as is the decision to award grants to any applicants in a given year. Grant recipients will be expected to present a summary of their research (or its progress) at the CARL Conference following reception of the grant.

Eligibility requirements

• Applicants must be current members of CARL, although an individual or a group may undertake the research. For group applications, all applicants must be CARL members. Please visit https://carl-acrl.org/join-renew to verify your CARL membership before submitting your application.
• Grants will not be given for research leading to an academic degree.
• The proposed research/publication should be significant to the objectives of CARL as stated in the CARL Bylaws.

CARL Research Grant Application

Complete the Research Grant Application (Parts I & II) via the Google Form linked below. Download the Budget spreadsheet (Part III) and upload it to the Google Form before clicking Submit.

• Part I & II: Contact Information & Research Proposal [Google Form] 
• Part III: Budget [Download Spreadsheet] — Please note that the CARL Research Grant  may not be used to pay for any F&A (facilities and administrative) costs                   

Please review CARL's Grant Award Compliance Disclaimer  before submitting a proposal.

Proposals will be submitted to the committee for anonymous review. To ensure an absolutely anonymous review, please do not include any identifying information (for example, your name, your workplace name, or citations of publications you've authored) in Part II or Part III of the application. All identifying information from Part I will be separated out before review.

Criteria

The proposals will be scored using the CARL Research Grant Rubric

Focus on the following areas:

• Objectives —ideas are fully developed and supported and the desired results are clear
• Methodology —there is an appropriate research design/plan and there is a realistic timeframe for completing the research
• Significance —the research topic is interesting and original, makes a contribution to scholarship, and has an impact on librarianship, library services, and/or library users

Deadline

Proposals must be received no later than 5pm on Monday, September 15, 2025.

Research Grant Awardees

The CARL Research Grant recipient(s) will be announced and the award presented in October or November 2025. The CARL Research Grant will be disbursed to recipient(s) upon winning. Reporting requirements and deadlines are as follows:

1. A copy of the CARL Research Grant letter will be sent to the office of sponsored research or equivalent office of the recipient's home institution.
2. Final Expense Report—The Research Grant recipient(s) will provide a final accounting of expenditures to the CARL Treasurer. Recipient(s) may be asked to return any unused funds to CARL.
3. Public Presentation of Results—At the CARL Conference following award of the Research Grant, the Research Grant recipient(s) will be expected to present their research results to date.

Questions

For any questions about the Grant or the application process, please contact the CARL Board Awards Liaison.

Committee

Contact the CARL Board Awards Liaison for more information on committee membership.

Charge

The CARL Research Grant Committee shall consist of four at-large members appointed by the President. The President shall appoint a Chair and three members for one-year terms. The Research Grant Committee shall:

1. convene every other year, in the same years as CARL Conference; 
2. solicit proposals for the Research Grant; 
3. recommend a grant recipient(s) to the Board of Directors for its approval; 
4. arrange for the design and execution of the grant itself; and 
5. carry out other duties as assigned by the CARL Board of Directors.

Awardees

2018

Project Title: Ask Us How? Analyzing the Visual Appeal, Placement, and Language Used to Describe and Promote Different Modes of Reference Service
Researcher: Stephanie Alexander

Project Title: Disciplinary Standards for Undergraduate Student Education and Faculty Perceptions of Information Literacy
Researchers: Kendall Faulkner and Tiffanie Ford-Baxter

2014

Project Title: Defining the Archives to Enhance Collaboration Between Librarians and Archivists
Researchers: Diana Wakimoto

2012

Project Title: Ethnographic Study of Student Research Frustrations
Researchers: Sheree Fu, Char Booth, Mary Martin, Meg Garrett, and Natalie Tagge

2011

Project Title: Information Visualization and Keyword Searching
Researchers: Matthew Conner and Melissa Browne

2010

Project Title: Standardized Information Literacy Assessment: An Institutional Specific Approach
Researchers: Shannon Staley and Christina Peterson

2009

Project Title: Subjecting the Catalog to Assessment: Subject vs. Tags
Researchers: Jennifer Quinonez-Skinner, Danielle Skaggs, and Luiz Mendes