Lyrasis Catalyst Fund
Lyrasis Catalyst Fund supports member organizations' innovative pilot projects in libraries, archives, museums, and related research communities to address shared challenges and benefit the broader field.
Funder: LYRASIS
Due Dates: January 11, 2027 (Applications open) | March 7, 2027 (Application deadline)
Funding Amounts: $250,000 available for 2027; Small Grants up to $14,999; Large Grants $15,000–$50,000; projects up to 12 months
Summary: Supports innovative member-led pilot projects and ideas addressing shared challenges in libraries, archives, museums, and complementary research communities.
Key Information: Only current Lyrasis members may apply, including organizations participating through group memberships.
Description
The Lyrasis Catalyst Fund supports new ideas and innovative projects that advance the mission and reach of member organizations. Initiated by the Lyrasis Leaders Circle in 2016, it creates opportunities to explore, test, refine, and collaborate on innovations with potential for community-wide impact. Proposals request funding for applicants to pilot their own projects; Idea submissions recommend issues or solutions for Lyrasis to investigate through its Research and Innovation agenda.
The fund values community-driven work, diversity, equity, inclusion, accessibility, cross-institutional collaboration, and open source, open access, open infrastructure, and sharing of results. It supports creative approaches to shared problems that serve the membership broadly. The thematic tracks are general innovation, focused on academic institutions and others, and public libraries.
