National Leadership Grants for Libraries

Overview

Application: To access the latest NOFO, visit Grants.gov or contact a program officer.

Program Contacts: We encourage all applicants to contact the member of our team whose portfolio most closely aligns with your proposal. In order for us to best support you, please be in touch early in the application process and prior to submitting an application. We also encourage all applicants to view the IMLS Awarded Grants database to see projects IMLS has recently funded in this program.

Erin Barsan ebarsan@imls.gov	Archives and special collections Audiovisual collections Community archives Digital collections Digital preservation
Jill Connors-Joyner jconnors-joyner@imls.gov	Early learning Future library and archival workforce Informal STEM learning and Making School libraries Young adult services
Sarah Fuller sfuller@imls.gov	Community or population-specific services Library and Archives' organizational readiness and retention Public health Workforce development
James Neal jneal@imls.gov	Civic technology Cybersecurity Data privacy and security Digital access and literacy Open educational resources
Dr. Ashley Sands asands@imls.gov	AI/machine learning/data science Open infrastructures Research data management Scholarly communications

Program Overview: The National Leadership Grants for Libraries Program (NLG-L) supports projects that develop, enhance, or disseminate replicable practices, programs, models, or tools to strengthen library and archival services for the American public.

The program supports projects that:

Serve the learning needs of the public through libraries and archives;
Improve community well-being through libraries and archives;
Provide broad access to and preservation of information and collections through libraries and archives; or
Provide services to affected communities in the event of an emergency or disaster.

Application Process: The application process for the NLG-L program has two phases; applicants must begin by applying for Phase I. For Phase I, all applicants must submit Preliminary Proposals by the September 20th deadline listed for this Notice of Funding Opportunity. For Phase II, only selected applicants will be invited to submit Full Proposals, and only those Invited Full Proposals will be considered for funding. Invited Full Proposals will be due March 10, 2025*.

Award Amount and Cost Share Requirement: Award amounts and cost share requirements are as follows:

Project Type	Award Amount	Cost Share Requirement
Planning Grants	$50,000 to $150,000	No cost share required.
Forum Grants	$50,000 to $150,000	No cost share required.
Community-Centered Implementation Grants	$25,000 to $100,000	No cost share required.
National Implementation Grants	$50,000 to $1,000,000	Requests of more than $249,999 in IMLS funds require at least 1:1 cost share from non-federal sources.
Applied Research Grants	$50,000 to $750,000	No cost share required.

Cost sharing is not considered in the review of applications but is an eligibility criterion for certain NLG-L project types. See the Notice of Funding Opportunity for further information on cost share.

Grant Period: One to two years for Planning Grants, Forum Grants, and Community-Centered Implementation Grants. One to three years for National Implementation Grants and Applied Research Grants.

Eligibility: See the Notice of Funding Opportunity for eligibility criteria for this program.

If you have general questions, please contact imls-librarygrants@imls.gov.

*All grant programs are subject to the availability of funds and IMLS discretion.

National Leadership Grants for Libraries

Overview

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