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IMLS Announces Grant Programs
By Donna DiMichele | August 1, 2016
The Institute of Museum and Library Services (IMLS) has announced the guidelines for its two largest discretionary library programs: National Leadership Grants for Libraries (NLG) and the Laura Bush 21st Century Librarian Program (LB21).
There are some new changes for the FY 2017 discretionary grants:
- Both the National Leadership Grants and Laura Bush 21st Century Librarian Program have new project categories this year which are: Community Anchors, National Digital Platform and Curating Collections. For more detailed information, please see the Notice of Funding Opportunity about areas of interest in each of the funding categories.
- Sparks! Grants, part of the National Leadership Grants program, have been rolled back in with all the other National Leadership grants. This means there will be two deadlines for Sparks! Grants in FY 2017. September 1, 2016 is the first deadline with two page preliminary proposals due at that time. For more detailed information, see the National Leadership Grants Notice of Funding Opportunity on how to apply for all types of NLG funding categories.
Please consider applying, attending the informational webinars, getting in touch with IMLS discretionary program officers (contacts listed at the above links), and sharing this information with your organization’s partners.
Follow the IMLS blog, UpNext, for more information about the new FY 2017 funding categories. IMLS has series of four blog posts detailing the new project categories, as well as further information to help you determine the most appropriate funding category for any idea you may have.
Read the July 28 IMLS News Release for more information.
New Project Categories
As outlined in the 2017 IMLS Congressional Justification, IMLS is especially interested in projects that address the following priorities:
- Community Anchors: NLG projects that advance the role of libraries as community anchors that provide civic and cultural engagement, facilitate lifelong learning, promote digital inclusion, and support economic vitality through programming and services. LB21 projects that investigate and build the skills and knowledge of library professionals to support the role of libraries as community anchors that facilitate lifelong learning; enhance civic and cultural engagement; and support economic vitality, through programming and services.
- National Digital Platform: NLG projects that create, develop, and expand the social and technical infrastructure and the open source software applications used by libraries and archives to provide digital content and services to all users in the United States. LB21 projects that increase library professionals’ capacity to create, develop, and use the social and technical infrastructure and the open source software applications used by libraries and archives to provide digital content and services to all users in the United States. NDP projects bridge gaps between disparate pieces of the existing digital infrastructure for increased efficiencies, cost savings, access, and services.
- Curating Collections: NLG projects that can have a significant national impact on shared services for the preservation and management of digital library collections and content across the country. LB21 projects that increase librarians’ and library professionals’ capacity to create, preserve, manage, and provide access to digital library collections across the country.
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