The Lyrasis Catalyst Fund
Investing in Our Members
The Lyrasis Catalyst Fund is an award program that provides support for new ideas and innovative projects that advance the mission and reach of Lyrasis member organizations.
The Lyrasis Catalyst Fund is now open! Want to know more about the program and the application process? Please review the following recordings of our recent webinars:
If you have any other questions or would like to discuss your application, please reach out to catalystfund@lyrasis.org.
Initiated by the Lyrasis Leaders Circle, the Lyrasis Catalyst Fund expands opportunities to explore, test, refine and collaborate on innovations with potential for community-wide impact. All Lyrasis members are encouraged to propose, become a reviewer and vote for which proposals are funded each year!
Lyrasis Catalyst Fund Values
The Lyrasis Catalyst Fund values are:
- Community-driven projects and projects having community impact
- Diversity, equity, inclusion and accessibility
- Open source, open access, open sharing of results and open infrastructure
- Cross-institutional collaboration
Creative Concepts
The Lyrasis Catalyst Fund supports creative concepts that
- Serve the broad interests of the Lyrasis membership
- Test-and-try new approaches to shared problems
- Advance important objectives of libraries, archives, museums and complementary research communities
The 2025 Lyrasis Catalyst Fund Cycle
The 2025 Lyrasis Catalyst Fund application cycle will open on Monday, January 13, 2025 and will close on Wednesday, February 26, 2025. See the funded recipients from 2024 and their projects. Members are encouraged to discuss their proposed concept with Lyrasis Catalyst Fund staff prior to submitting the brief online application form and two-page PDF describing their proposal or idea. To make an appointment or ask questions, please contact catalystfund@lyrasis.org.
Announcing the 2025 Lyrasis Catalyst Fund Themes
- A traditional Innovation Theme — open to any institution that wishes to:
- Explore a new concept that will benefit the library, archives, museum or complementary research fields
- Build from existing projects or programs for expansion, or
- Create partnerships with previous awardees to continue to develop their work.
- A Public Library Theme, which centers around five issues.
- Accessibility.
- Expansion of services to rural areas.
- Making banned books accessible.
- Addressing community engagement and impact.
- Navigating the politics in rural communities, local cities, and towns.
- We know that public libraries face continuing concerns in their communities but are resolved to offer inclusive customer service despite political divisiveness across the United States and elsewhere. We are interested in supporting projects that will demonstrate how public libraries are resolving these issues at a local level.
Who can apply?
The Lyrasis Catalyst Fund is an exclusive benefit for Lyrasis members. Last year, we extended the Lyrasis Catalyst Fund to the Palace Project and BiblioBoard adopters to introduce these libraries to Lyrasis, the nonprofit membership organization behind the Palace Project.
We are excited to announce that we are going to open the process up to Palace Project libraries and BiblioBoard library partners again for one more year only.
Next year, in 2026, the Lyrasis Catalyst Fund will once again only be available to Lyrasis institutional and Group Members (formerly Group Agents). A Lyrasis membership includes access to services like Lyrasis Learning, which provides professional development through free access to live and pre-recorded classes. Learn more about Lyrasis and how we partner with libraries, archives, and museums, how we lead in “Open” – access, technology and services. Join Lyrasis today, and make a difference for your community.
Submissions
Submissions are accepted from any member of Lyrasis. The types of applications seen in previous years have addressed subjects and concepts as varied as AI, accessibility, climate change, copyright challenges, digital archiving, disaster preparedness/response, diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI), metadata transformation, open educational resources, professional education, open source and community-supported software development, scholarly communication, social justice work and virtual reality, just to name a few. However, don't let this list limit your creativity.
A member may submit no more than ONE proposal and ONE idea per year.
- If submitting a proposal, you are requesting funds to pilot your own project. Funds will be awarded to your organization if the project is selected.
- If submitting an idea, you are recommending an issue, problem, service need or solution that Lyrasis could investigate, test and address. If selected, ideas will be included in Lyrasis' Research and Innovation agenda for exploration, planning, program design and piloting. Your organization may have the option, but would not be obligated, to participate in the resulting program, service, or solution.
If you wish to submit a proposal or idea to continue work on a project previously funded by the Lyrasis Catalyst Fund, you may apply. Such applications will be judged by the same criteria as others in the competition. The work on the prior Catalyst Fund project must be completed and the final report submitted for consideration of a new grant award. In addition, the new Catalyst Fund submission must include a description of the previously funded project's accomplishments and what new activities are proposed.
If you'd like the staff to review your application, or comment on your concept, reach out to us at catalystfund@lyrasis.org.
Not planning to apply this year? Consider volunteering as a reviewer.
How to Apply
Applications for the 2025 Catalyst Fund are currently open. Members are encouraged to discuss their proposed concept with Lyrasis Catalyst Fund staff prior to submitting the brief online application form and two-page PDF describing their proposal or idea. Please schedule to meet with us before Feb. 20, 2025. To schedule a meeting or ask questions, contact catalystfund@lyrasis.org.
To access the Lyrasis Catalyst Fund applications, members will log in to their My Lyrasis account. Non-members can create an account if they don’t have one. Once inside My Lyrasis, links to the Lyrasis Catalyst Fund applications can be found in the lower left navigation.
Detailed instructions and templates for the two proposal themes and for ideas can be found below. Please review these Instructions and the Selection Process & Criteria before submitting.
For Proposals:
- All prospective applicants should consider discussing their proposed concept with Catalyst Fund staff prior to submitting a proposal. Contact catalystfund@lyrasis.org to schedule a meeting.
- Review the Traditional Innovation Theme Proposal.
- Review the Public Library Theme Proposal.
- Create your proposal. Use this template (MS Word format) to create your application. Your final proposal will need to be formatted as a PDF.
For Ideas:
- All prospective applicants should consider discussing their proposed concept with Catalyst Fund staff prior to submitting an ‘Idea’. Contact catalystfund@lyrasis.org to schedule a meeting.
- Review the Instructions for Ideas.
- Describe your idea. Use the template linked below (MS Word format) to create your own document using the same outline. Your final proposal will need to be formatted as a PDF.