August 24, 2021

For Immediate Release

Portland Genealogy Library Awarded Federal Grant

(Portland, Oregon, 08/24/2021) — The Genealogical Forum of Oregon has received a $1,400 federal American Rescue Plan Act grant for digitizing our holdings. The money will permit the purchase of a much-needed scanner that can be used by our trained volunteers. Records will then be made available to members at home via the GFO website. Prior to the pandemic, digitization was done on a modest basis, mainly to protect our periodicals. Patrons only had access to the digitized images onsite at our library.

In the past year, due to the pandemic, a team of dedicated volunteers moved more than 150 annual classes online and has transferred more than 334,000 pages of records onto the GFO’s website. This grant will increase that effort.

The GFO received the grant in a highly competitive process; less than a third of the total funding requested was approved. Grants were made possible thanks to the American Rescue Plan Act of 2021, and provided by the federal Institute of Museum and Library Services, through the Library Services and Technology Act. The grants application process was administered by the State Library of Oregon.

The federal funds were included in the American Rescue Plan Act to help libraries, museums, and related nonprofits promote digital inclusion and connectivity, address needs arising from the COVID-19 pandemic, and support efforts to provide equitable service to communities.

GFO Vice President Susie Chodorow, who secured the grant, says, “The majority of our members identify as 65 years and older. Many are living with disabilities, especially mobility concerns. It’s imperative that we continue to offer online services. This grant will help us work towards our goal of making our collections accessible online as quickly as possible for use by our members.”

We greatly appreciate Congress’s support of the American Rescue Plan Act. It is directly benefiting the residents of Oregon.

For more information about the federal library grants, please visit the Institute of Museum and Library Services at https://imls.gov. More information about American Rescue Plan Act grants awarded by the State Library of Oregon, is available at https://libguides.osl.state.or.us/lstagrants/arpaawards.

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Editors: For more information, contact GFO President Vince Patton at president@gfo.org

GFO Logo available: https://bit.ly/3pRnYxH

The Genealogical Forum of Oregon is an all-volunteer nonprofit founded in 1946
to promote, preserve and publish genealogical history.
The GFO operates the largest genealogy library in the Pacific Northwest
and offers more than 150 classes each year.

Genealogical Forum of Oregon
2505 SE 11th Ave., B-18
Portland, OR 97202
gfo.org