Gates Foundation Ending Global Libraries Program

The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation recently announced the forthcoming closure of their Global Libraries program. The program, which has existed to support public library programs worldwide since 2000, will be phased out over the next three to five years. According to the Foundation, the “transition will happen slowly with no programmatic changes to our budgets this year or next year.” You can see a listing of current awarded grants, supporting everything from the Urban Libraries Council in the U.S. to research development in Moldova, in the Gates Foundation Grants Database.  High profile grantees in the United States include the Digital Public Library of America, the American Library Association, and OCLC. Libraries have certainly benefited from Gates’ wealth, which is considerable, as illustrated by everyone’s favorite modern-day scientist Neil deGrasse Tyson (apologies to Bill Nye), in this video from 2011. Find links to more on the Global Libraries program via INFOdocket.