Iowa and Georgia will soon be the benefactors of a grant from the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation to help increase support for community libraries from within their local communities.

The $5 million grant, which is being administered by OCLC Inc., an Ohio-based library cooperative, will fund development and implementation of a community-based awareness campaign. The campaigns are expected to begin this summer in both states.

“There has never been a more important time to highlight the importance of and support the services provided by public libraries,” said Jill Nishi, deputy director of the Gates Foundation’s U.S. library arm. “As a long-time partner to libraries, we believe it is critical to help ensure they remain strong during this especially challenging time. But we hope new partners, community leaders, and local governments will also continue to recognize the value of libraries and support them accordingly.”

According to OCLC, 80 percent of library funding comes from local sources which are being squeezed in the current economic recession. To compound the problem, as individuals trim their own budgets, they often turn to the free services provided by public libraries.

OCLC plans to work with Leo Burnett USA, a Chicago-based marketing agency, for design and testing of the community support campaigns. The two companies will use strategies previously outlined in a 2007 joint report that identified factors which drive and limit local support.

“The value and relevance of libraries is especially clear in a difficult economy; however, few people are aware of how their libraries are funded and of the increasingly fragile state of library funding,” said Cathy De Rosa, global vice president of marketing for OCLC, in a prepared statement. “It is our goal that the campaign modle jointly created and piloted with local communities can provide a roadmap for building awareness of the vital services libraries provide and how to convert that awareness into increase support.”

This spring, OCLC will solicit proposals from libraries that wish to participate in the early pilot campaign and will award a limited number of small grants to support the campaign in select communities.

“The State Library of Iowa is very pleased to be a part of this important project,” said Mary Megner, state librarian. “We know that Iowa’s public libraries are key partners in their local communities, and we welcome this opportunity to work with the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation and OCLC to develop more effective ways to tell the library story.”