030ADV23R0047 - LHI - Questions 061923 FINAL.pdf

030ADV23R0047

Responses to Questions – Lewis-Houghton Civics and Democracy Initiative

Week Ending June 19, 2023

6/23/2023 Page 1 of 3

# Question Answer 1 Does LoC identify/research primary sources from the specified collections, or is that task solely the awardee’s responsibility (and thus a budget item)?

It is expected that the awardees will conduct research to identify primary sources that help achieve their curricular objectives. Applicants might find it useful to review previous Library posts, primary source sets, and collection essays from loc.gov that highlight Library collections and individual items.

2 While LoC resources in music and culture are bountiful, are applicants able to utilize, curate, and/or incorporate reference to primary sources from The Smithsonian, if they complement the proposed project (e.g., Smithsonian Folkways, the largest music label in the world)?

Incorporating reference to primary sources that are freely available from other repositories that complement the proposed project featuring the Library of Congress collections is allowable, as long as most featured sources are from the Library.

3 We would like to apply for this opportunity on Grants.gov, Lewis-Houghton Civics and Democracy Initiative, but cannot see the APPLY button as active. We do have a registered account within the platform. Is there something we must do to be eligible?

Please see Sections B, D.3 and D.6 of the Notice of Funding Opportunity for Submission Requirements. All applications must be submitted to tps-grant@loc.gov.

4 We currently have a Community Collections Grant. Does this make us ineligible to apply--the guidelines seem to suggest that we can apply, but I wanted to double check.

Yes, you are still eligible to apply. Previous funding information should be provided in Appendix C of the proposal, per Section D.5.1 of the Notice.

5 1. In the Budget Plan Workbook Excel file, do we include expenditures in our proposed budget for only the first year of the grant period or for the full three years? Basically, are we requesting up to $100K or up to $300K in the Budget Plan Workbook?

2. Are there any required Library of Congress meetings where grantees must travel to attend?

3. If there are parking fees to attend professional learning at a local venue, do we put those expenses under ‘Other Direct Costs’ or ‘Travel’? No staff member will be in travel status because the venue is local.

1. Include expenditures for the first year. Per section B, the Library may make additional funds available to awardees for a maximum additional two years at the government’s sole discretion, without competition, subject to awardee’s satisfactory performance under the current award, subject to the availability of funds and awardee’s submission of a fundable proposal. The Library will award up to $100,000 per year for up to three years.

2. Per the expectations included in section A.3 of the Notice, awardees will be expected to attend and participate in at least two TPS Consortium meetings per year, held in Washington, DC, elsewhere in the U.S, or via a virtual platform such as Zoom. Awardees must also attend a 10-hour orientation, either online or in-person, at the Library of Congress.

3. Please include parking fees under Travel costs in the budget documents, and specifically under the Local Travel costs column in the Budget Plan Workbook.

Week Ending June 19, 2023

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6 We are unable to access the Lewis-Houghton Civics and Democracy Initiative grant. Could we please get the steps to gain access?

Award information, including instructions on how to submit an application, is contained in the Notice of Funding Opportunity. The Notice and all related attachments for this award may be downloaded from grants.gov:

https://www.grants.gov/web/grants/view-opportunity.html?oppId=348276

7 I have two questions related to how the Library's resources may be used for a proposed Lewis-Houghton grant project:

1. Rights and Access: Must resources to be used in a grant project be restricted to those resources that have free and unrestricted rights access? Or has some special arrangement been made? (Most post-1920s music in the LOC collections have rights restrictions.)

2. While some of the Library's collection of audio recordings are available as streamable/downloadable files (like MP3 files) many music recordings are just available as CDs or other physical media.

Should grant projects just work with resources for which streamable/downloadable/online files are available, or might physical-media files be digitized for a project? Just adding a note to the above questions: musical recordings from times related to important civic movements and history are often rights-restricted.

1. Yes, per section A.2, projects must use rights-free materials from the Library of Congress’s collections.

2. Yes. Projects should work with resources for which streamable/downloadable/online files are available. On a case-by-case basis, if physical media files exist in the Library of Congress’s collections and are rights free, the agency will consider digitization.

8 To whom should letters of support be addressed? I do not see any guidance beyond

pg. 10: "Appendix E - Letters of Support:

Letters from senior staff of organizations identified as partners and subsidiaries in the proposal that clearly articulate the nature of their collaboration under the award proposal."

Letters of Support may be addressed to the Library of Congress or Teaching with Primary Sources Program.

9 For the Lewis-Houghton Civics and Democracy funding opportunity, we plan to collaborate with 10 high school educators.

Is it preferable to obtain letters of support or contracts from each of these individuals to show their commitment level to the project?

Also, for the personnel section of the budget, shall I list the percent effort base on a calendar year? Our employees have 9 month

1. Inclusion of such letters is not required;

however, their inclusion may enhance the panel’s ability to review the application.

2. Please enter the percent effort based on the employee’s appointment type, and provide an explanation of the appointment type in the Budget Plan Workbook and accompanying Narrative.

https://www.grants.gov/web/grants/view-opportunity.html?oppId=348276 https://www.grants.gov/web/grants/view-opportunity.html?oppId=348276

Week Ending June 19, 2023

6/23/2023 Page 3 of 3 academic appointments but I assumed that I should convert their percent effort to the percentage of their annualized salaries. Could you kindly confirm this?

10 Can the proposal narrative, budget narrative, and appendices be in single space, or is only double-space format acceptable?

Per Sections D.5.1 and D.5.2 of the Notice, the Proposal Narrative and Budget Plan Narrative must be double-spaced and in 11-point font.

There are no spacing restrictions for the Appendices.