National Leadership Grants

To support projects that address critical needs of the museum and library fields and that have the potential to advance practice in these professions so that museums and libraries can strengthen services for the American public. Accelerating Promising Practices for Small Libraries was included in FY2019 and FY2020 to focus support on small institutions. The IMLS CARES Act Grants for Museums and Libraries was added for FY2020 to support the role of museums and libraries in responding to the coronavirus pandemic.

National Leadership Grants support projects that address critical needs of the museum and library fields and that have the potential to advance practice in these professions so that museums and libraries can strengthen services for the American public. Projects are expected to generate results such as models, new tools, research findings, services, practices, and/or alliances that can be widely used, adapted, scaled, or replicated to extend and leverage the benefits of federal investment.

An applicant to FY2021 National Leadership Grants for Libraries must meet geographic and governance criteria and qualify as one of the following six types of organizations: 1. a library or a parent organization, such as a school district, a municipality, a State agency, or an academic institution, that is responsible for the administration of a library; 2. an academic or administrative unit, such as a graduate school of library and information science that is part of an institution of higher education through which it would make an application; 3. a digital library, if it makes library materials publicly available and provides library services under the supervision of at least one permanent professional staff librarian; 4. a library agency that is an official agency of a State or other unit of government and is charged by the law governing it with the extension and development of public library services within its jurisdiction 5. a library consortium that is a local, statewide, regional, interstate, or international cooperative association of library entities that provides for the systematic and effective coordination of the resources of eligible libraries, as defined above, and information centers that work to improve the services delivered to the clientele of these libraries; or 6. a library association that exists on a permanent basis; serves libraries or library professionals on a national, regional, State, or local level; and engages in activities designed to advance the well-being of libraries and the library profession. An applicant to FY2021 National Leadership Grants for Museums must meet geographic and governance criteria and qualify as one of the following four types of organizations: 1. A museum that, using a professional staff, is organized on a permanent basis for essentially educational, cultural heritage, or aesthetic purposes; owns or uses tangible objects, either animate or inanimate; cares for these objects; and exhibits these objects to the general public on a regular basis through facilities that it owns or operates. 2. An organization or association that engages in activities designed to advance the wellbeing of museums and the museum profession; 3. An institution of higher education, including public and nonprofit universities; or 4. A public or private nonprofit agency that is responsible for the operation of a museum that meets these criteria.

Grant funds must be used for the purposes outlined in the Notice of Funding Opportunity, and in accordance with the Institute of Museum and Library Services General Terms and Conditions. Examples of allowable costs include personnel salaries, wages, and fringe benefits for project staff; travel expenses for key project staff and consultants; materials, supplies, software, and equipment related directly to project activities; third-party costs; publication design and printing; staff and volunteer training; student tuition and fees; internships/fellowships; and indirect or overhead costs.

National Leadership Grants for Libraries: Projects must begin on August 1 or September 1, 2021. Planning Grants and National Forum Grants may be carried out for one to two years. Project Grants and Research in Service to Practice Grants may be carried out for one to three years. National Leadership Grants for Museums: Projects must begin on September 1, 2021, and may be carried out for one to three years.

1. Ensure that required registrations are active and user names and passwords are in place. 2. Read the Notice of Funding Opportunity carefully to get all the information required for applying. 3. Compose the Preliminary Application (for NLG-Libraries) or the complete application (for NLG-Museums), using resources available through www.imls.gov (e.g. live and on-demand webinars, instructions, Sample Applications, Outcome Based Evaluations, Shaping Outcomes tutorial, Reviewer Resources). 4. Contact an IMLS staff member to ask any questions about the application and review process. 5. Submit the application via Grants.gov by the deadline. 6. If contacted to submit an Invited Full Proposal for NLG-Libraries, reread the Notice of Funding Opportunity paying special attention to the requirements for a full proposal. Compose the application, and submit it via Grants.gov by the deadline.

Successful proposals in National Leadership Grants are structured to result in far-reaching impact beyond the institution and influencing practice across one or more disciplines within the library/archive or museum profession; reflect a thorough understanding of current practice and knowledge about the subject matter and an awareness of current strategic initiatives and agendas in the field; employ novel approaches or techniques to strengthen library or museum services; incorporate audience, stakeholders, and/or other partners in strategic collaborations; and have the potential to generate new tools, research findings, models, services, practices, and/or alliances that can be widely used, adapted, scaled, or replicated to extend the benefits of federal investment.

IMLS staff review applications for eligibility and completeness. IMLS uses a peer review process to evaluate all eligible and complete applications. Peer reviewers are experts in the field with relevant knowledge and expertise in the types of project activities identified in the applications. IMLS instructs reviewers to evaluate applications according to the review criteria outlined in the Notice of Funding Opportunity. Peer reviewers must comply with Federal ethics and conflicts of interest requirements. The IMLS Director takes into account the input provided by the review process and makes final funding decisions consistent with the purposes of the agency's mission and programs.

National Leadership Grants for Libraries The application process for the NLG-Libraries program consists of two phases. For Phase I, all applicants must submit two-page Preliminary Proposals. For Phase II, selected applicants will be invited to submit full proposals. For both phases, applicants must submit their materials by the specified deadlines. Only Invited Full Proposals will be considered for funding.

IMLS will not release information about the status of an application until the applications have been reviewed and all deliberations are concluded. IMLS expects to notify both successful and unsuccessful applicants of the final decisions by email by July 2021 for National Leadership Grants for Libraries and August 2021 for National Leadership Grants for Museums.

IMLS may extend particular grants at the discretion of the Director.

IMLS provides copies of reviewer comments and scores to all unsuccessful applicants and invites them to consult with specific IMLS staff when determining whether to revise the proposal and submit it again to IMLS or another funding agency.