Laura Bush 21st Century Librarian Program | LB21 FY17 2

Opportunity Information: Apply for LB21 FY17 2

The Laura Bush 21st Century Librarian Program (LB21) is a discretionary grant opportunity from the Institute of Museum and Library Services (IMLS) designed to strengthen the library and archives workforce in the United States and affiliated jurisdictions. The core purpose of the program is workforce development: it funds professional development, graduate-level education, and continuing education efforts that help libraries and archives recruit, educate, and retain librarians and related professionals who can respond to evolving public learning needs and the rapidly changing information landscape. A central theme of the program is building and sustaining a diverse workforce, so proposals are generally expected to show how they will expand pathways into the profession and better prepare staff to serve varied communities.

Eligibility is limited to applicants that are either units of state or local government or private nonprofit organizations with tax-exempt status under the Internal Revenue Code, and they must be located in an eligible U.S. jurisdiction. Those jurisdictions include all 50 states, the District of Columbia, and U.S. territories and freely associated states listed in the notice (including Puerto Rico, Guam, American Samoa, the U.S. Virgin Islands, the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands, and the Republic of the Marshall Islands, the Federated States of Micronesia, and the Republic of Palau). Beyond being a government entity or qualifying nonprofit in an eligible location, an applicant also has to fit into one of the program-defined library or library-related organizational categories.

The eligible organizational types are broad and cover much of the library ecosystem. Applicants may be an eligible library itself or a parent organization responsible for administering a library, such as a school district, municipality, state agency, or academic institution. Eligible libraries include public libraries; public elementary and secondary school libraries; college, community college, and university libraries; and certain research libraries and archives that are not integral parts of higher education institutions but provide publicly available scholarly research materials and services that are not otherwise available. For these research libraries, there are specific expectations: they must be supervised by at least one permanent professional staff librarian and must either be generally recognized as holding unique scholarly resources available to the public or be able to demonstrate this in their IMLS application. Private or special libraries may also be eligible if their state has deemed them eligible to participate.

Eligibility also extends to academic or administrative units within institutions of higher education, such as graduate schools of library and information science, when they apply through their institution in accordance with any additional higher-education conditions that may apply. Digital libraries can qualify as well, as long as they make materials publicly available and provide real library services (for example, selection, organization, description, reference, and preservation) under the supervision of at least one permanent professional staff librarian. In addition, state or other governmental library agencies charged by law with extending and developing public library services can apply, as can library consortia that coordinate resources across eligible libraries to improve service delivery. Finally, permanent library associations operating at the national, regional, state, or local level are eligible when their activities are designed to advance libraries and the profession.

The program also clarifies who can and cannot be the lead applicant. Federally operated libraries and museums are not allowed to apply directly for LB21 grants, although they may participate as partners; IMLS encourages potential applicants to contact them before submitting any proposal that involves a federal agency or federal collection. Organizations that do not meet the formal eligibility categories cannot be the official applicant, but IMLS explicitly notes that they may still contribute meaningfully as partners on projects. Non-federal entities may participate as subrecipients or contractors and can receive IMLS funds through the project structure. Native American tribal organizations may apply as long as they otherwise meet the stated eligibility requirements.

From the source information provided for this specific posting, the opportunity is titled "Laura Bush 21st Century Librarian Program" with funding opportunity number LB21 FY17 2. It is a grant (funding instrument type: Grant) in the Arts and Humanities activity category, listed under CFDA 45.313, and administered by IMLS. The original closing date shown is June 9, 2017, with an award ceiling of $1,000,000 and an expected 11 awards under that cycle.

• The Institute of Museum and Library Services in the arts, humanities sector is offering a public funding opportunity titled "Laura Bush 21st Century Librarian Program" and is now available to receive applicants.
• Interested and eligible applicants and submit their applications by referencing the CFDA number(s): 45.313.
• This funding opportunity was created on 2016-11-09.
• Applicants must submit their applications by 2017-06-09. (Agency may still review applications by suitable applicants for the remaining/unused allocated funding in 2026.)
• Each selected applicant is eligible to receive up to $1,000,000.00 in funding.
• The number of recipients for this funding is limited to 11 candidate(s).
• Eligible applicants include: Others.

Apply for LB21 FY17 2

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