Due to the decision made by the CLA membership on January 27, 2016 to dissolve the Canadian Library Association (CLA) predicated on the creation of a new federation of library associations, the organization is not able to award the Research and Development Grants in 2016.  We apologize for any inconvenience.

One or more grants totalling $1,000 are awarded annually, when merited, to personal members of the Canadian Library Association / Association canadienne des bibliothèques. The objectives of the grant are:

  • to support theoretical and applied research in the field of library and information services
  • to encourage and support research undertaken by practitioners in the field of library and information services
  • to promote research in the field of library and information services by and/or about Canadians

Criteria for Evaluation

Proposals for funding are judged on:

  1. originality or importance of research;
  2. appropriateness of proposed project to the goals and objectives of the Canadian Library Association/Association canadienne des bibliothèques;
  3. cost-effectiveness of research in terms of the expected influence and ramifications of the results ( relevant for applied research only);
  4. timeliness of the research (primarily relevant for applied research);
  5. assurance of project management and control;
  6. appropriateness of the proposed research method and design;
  7. completeness of application;
  8. an explanation of how the CLA funding would be used;
  9. indication of other funding sources if CLA/ACB funding (maximum $ 1000) is insufficient to complete the project.

Preference will be given to submissions from practitioners in the field of library and information services

Submission of Proposals

Grant applicants should submit their proposal via e-mail as an MS Word document in either English or French. The proposal should be in the form of a letter which explicitly addresses the criteria for evaluation listed above and also containing the following information, formatted using the headers below:

  1. Title:title of the research project
  2. Contact Information: name and address of applicant, mailing address and date of application
  3. Design & Methodology: a reasonable description of the research project identifying methodology and design
  4. Timetable: duration of the project, including a detailed project timetable
  5. Outcomes: assessment of the potential utility of research results to the Canadian library community
  6. Relevance to the Canadian Library Community: assessment of relevance of the research to the goals and objectives of the Canadian library community.
  7. Proposed Dissemination: outline of where and how the results will be disseminated to the library field
  8. Budget: detailed assessment of costs and statement of other grants/awards received
  9. Size of Proposal: limit of 4 pages or less

NOTE: Applications that do not follow submission guidelines and headers will not be considered.

Proposals should be submitted via email. Submissions by fax or post will not be accepted.

Deadline for receipt of proposals is February 28.

General Information 

All proposals should be emailed to:

CLA Research & Development Grant Committee
c/o Canadian Library Association
1150 Morrison Drive, Suite 400
Ottawa, ON K2H 8S9
E-mail: info@cla.ca

Past Grant Recipients