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National Leadership & Laura Bush 21st Century Librarian Grants
By Donna DiMichele | July 25, 2017
IMLS announced a single September 1 deadline for IMLS’ two largest discretionary library programs: National Leadership Grants and (NLG) and Laura Bush 21st Century Librarian Grants (LB21).
Two page preliminary proposals are due on September 1.
Please consider applying, listening to the recordings of the informational webinars, and getting in touch with IMLS discretionary program officers.
Press Release
The Institute of Museum and Library Services announced the guidelines for the first round of FY 2018 National Leadership Grants for Libraries (NLG) and Laura Bush 21st Century Librarian Program (LB21). The NLG program invests in projects that address challenges faced by the library and archive fields and generate results such as new tools, research findings, or models that can be widely used. The LB21 program supports human capital capacity projects for libraries and archives. This call for preliminary proposals has a deadline of September 1, 2017, for both programs. A separate funding opportunity for both programs will be announced in December with a deadline in February 2018.
From the preliminary proposals received in September, IMLS will select applicants and invite them to submit full proposals in January of 2018. Applicants who are not invited to continue from the first round of funding may submit new preliminary proposals in February.
Both funding opportunities support projects in three areas:
1. 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 improve the ability of library professionals to create meaningful community partnerships and provide programs and services that encourage civic and cultural engagement; foster community dialog; facilitate lifelong learning; promote digital inclusion; and/or support economic vitality.
2. 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.
3. 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.
Applicants to the LB21 program are required to align their projects with a project category, i.e., National Digital Platform, Community Anchors, or Curating Collections. Projects must also align with a project type, i.e., Pre-Professional; Masters-level and Doctoral-level Programs; Early Career Development; or Continuing Education.
See the grant program guidelines for more information about LB21 or NLG programs.
Webinars and Getting Your Questions Answered
For more information about the webinars, see the IMLS Webinar webpage .
IMLS staff members listed on the NLG and LB21 program pages are available by phone and email to answer general questions related to the programs.
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