MSIS Alumna Publishes Third Edition of Her Book, Winning Grants, with the American Library Association (ALA)

Stephanie Gerding (‘93,‘97)

Stephanie Gerding (‘93,‘97) considers herself a person who is 100-percent committed to the success of librarians.  

She spent the past several decades ensuring librarians have the resources they need to create a thriving environment within their communities. 

Gerding spent half her time growing up in Tennessee and the other half in California. When it was time to pick a college, she said the University of Tennessee, Knoxville, was a natural fit. 

“I started as an English major,” she said. “I was focused on going to law school. However, I wasn’t sure by the time I was done with my undergraduate degree. So I got a certificate from UT as a paralegal just to see if I liked working in law.”

Early Career

Gerding graduated with her undergraduate degree in 1993. She said her favorite part about being a paralegal was doing research. While a paralegal, she also worked part-time at Hodges Library on UT’s campus.

“At the time, one of my coworkers there was going to library school. It was right when it was transitioning to the School of Information Sciences. So, it was kind of an exciting time. While I loved libraries, I never thought of wanting to be a traditional librarian, but she told me to go talk to the dean to just see what career opportunities it might lead to. There were just so many career possibilities and, at that time, I was thinking corporate information. I talked to the dean and decided that was the path I wanted to go on,” she said. 

Right away Gerding received her first internship for an information brokerage that was run by Kendra Albright (’79, ’85, ‘02) who is also an SIS alumna. She also became the American Library Association (ALA) student chapter president leading meetings and slowly overcoming her fear of public speaking.

Gerding earned her master’s in information sciences in 1997 from UT. While working at Hodges Library, now full-time, Gerding began interviewing for other positions to get practical experience. One of the companies she interviewed with was Sirsi Corporation.

“I really connected with the person interviewing me,” she explained. “Afterward, he said he wanted to bring me to Huntsville where they’re located and I was like, ‘Okay. Free road trip!’ I went down there and was impressed. Their philosophy at the time was to hire people who knew libraries and teach them about technology.”

From Libraries to the Corporate World

Gerding decided that Sirsi Corporation was where she needed to be. She had many job responsibilities in this new position. One week she could be on the help desk troubleshooting issues when library catalogs went down, the next week she would be on the road teaching libraries about their systems. 

“One of my clients at that time was Federal Express [also known as FedEx] and they had an aeronautical library that had all the airplane maintenance manuals and supports the engineers. So I went there and did the week-long training and it was really interesting. These guys in suits kept coming to the door and looking in. I didn’t know what was going on, but at the end of the week they said ‘We need to hire a system administrator.’ They just didn’t know how to go about it,” she explained.

Gerding said it was like a movie, they wrote down a number on a piece of paper and asked if the number, which ultimately ended up being her salary, was going to be enough. 

“It was a really great salary,” she laughed.

After working for FedEx for a while, Gerding took a job with a start-up nonprofit in Seattle called Technology Resource Institute. That company ended up turning into the Gates Foundation.

In this position she helped library personnel across the country begin learning about computers and computer software. Some library employees had never even used a computer before. Though at the time it was new technology, Gerding knew that there would come a day when the United States library program would end. Therefore, she began looking for a new job in state libraries. 

Gerding went from working at the Gates Foundation to working in the New Mexico State Library as their continuing education coordinator and acting as a library consultant for public libraries throughout the state. 

“At that time I was in charge of the professional collection that they had at the state library. There were all kinds of books that the libraries could check out, but the one thing I noticed was that they didn’t have any books about grant writing,” she said. 

Gerding wanted to change that. However, she had never been published before. 

A Pivotal Magazine Article

She thought writing an article would be a great first step to getting published. Her first article was for the Computers in Libraries magazine called Small Library, Big Fundraising.

The article was about Angel Fire Library, which is a small library in New Mexico. After writing her article, ALA Editions | ALA Neal-Schuman reached out to her looking for someone to write a book on grants. That was her first book and she has since written several others, recently finishing the third edition of her book Winning Grants.”

She said, “One of the foundations of the book is that I’ve just tried to break it down and make it simple. The book lays out a clear, five-step process, demystifying complex concepts and providing clear, actionable guidance for new and advanced grant writers. As I’ve taught thousands of people about grant work, I’ve figured out better ways to present it. So that’s led to the development of several new resources. I wrote this book for all the aspiring library grant writers, as well as the seasoned library grant winners—everyone who is passionate about ensuring libraries remain vibrant cornerstones in our communities.”

In her third edition, Gerding has highlighted various success stories from librarians across the country who have successfully applied for and received grants. This new book features nine interviews showcasing these achievements.

Like her previous editions, there are tools and worksheets designed to guide readers through the grant application process, making it as straightforward as possible for them to secure the funding they need.

Winning Grants Cover Photo

In addition to being a successful published author, Gerding teaches grant writing classes at two different library schools: the University of Washington and San Jose State University. Since 2007, she has worked as a full-time consultant and currently resides in Seattle, Washington, with her husband and daughter, who is a senior in high school.

Gerding also maintains a library grants blog where she shares various grant opportunities for individuals and libraries.

She expresses that ever since discovering her passion for libraries, she has been on a mission to help them succeed in any way possible. Her long-standing commitment to library services has been evident throughout her career, and she has no plans to slow down anytime soon.