For more grants like this one, check out the NLC’s Grant Opportunities for Nebraska Libraries.
Applications for the 2026 Will Eisner Graphic Novel Grants for Libraries are now open! These grants recognize libraries for their growth of graphic literature and award funds for graphic novel collection development and programming.The application deadline is January 11, 2026.
The objective of the Will Eisner Graphic Novel Grants for Libraries is to facilitate library-generated programs and services that will promote graphic novels to library patrons and to the local community.
Two Will Eisner Graphic Novel grants will be awarded in 2026: one Graphic Novel Growth Grant, to a library that would like to expand their existing graphic novel services and programs; and one Graphic Novel Innovation Grant, to a library for the initiation of a new graphic novel service or program.
Each winning library will receive a $4,000 programming and collection development grant, which includes $1,000 to attend the ALA Annual Conference to receive their grant money. In addition, the wining libraries will also receive a collection of Will Eisner’s works and biographies, as well as a selection of the winning titles from the current year’s Will Eisner Awards at Comic-Con International, valued at approximately $3,000.
All applicants must be current personal or organizational members of ALA in good standing at the time of application. The institution can be a school, public, academic, or special library and must be located in North America – Canada, United States, or Mexico.
Visit the Eisner Grants page for the application form and grant details. Be sure to also check out the Eisner Grant FAQ page for new updates and additional information, including samples of some of the previous winning grant applications.
For any questions, contact ALA Graphic Novels & Comics in Libraries Round Table Staff Liaison, Tina Coleman, at ccoleman@ala.org.
Will Eisner (1917-2005) was an acclaimed American comics writer, artist, teacher, and entrepreneur. He is considered one of the most important contributors to the development of sequential art (a term he coined) and is known for the cartooning studio he founded; for his highly influential comic series, The Spirit; for his use of comics as an instructional medium; for his leading role in establishing the graphic novel as a form of literature with his 1978 groundbreaking graphic novel, A Contract with God and Other Tenement Stories; for his 20 years of teaching at the School of Visual Arts, leading to his three textbooks. In a career that spanned nearly seven decades – from the dawn of the comic book to the advent of digital comics – Will Eisner was truly the “Father of the Graphic Novel.”
