Deadline: September 20, 2023
Application: The Notice of Funding Opportunity (NOFO) for FY 2024 (PDF, 694KB) is now available.

Program Overview: The Laura Bush 21st Century Librarian Program (LB21) supports the training and professional development of library and archives professionals; developing faculty and information leaders; and recruiting, educating, and retaining the next generation of library and archives professionals in order to develop a diverse library and archival workforce and meet the information needs of their communities.

Applications to IMLS should both advance knowledge and understanding and ensure that the federal investment made generates benefits to society. Specifically, the goals for this program are to generate projects of far-reaching impact that:

• Recruit, train, develop, and retain a diverse workforce of library and archives professionals.

• Develop faculty, library, and archives leaders by increasing the institutional capacity of libraries, archives, and graduate programs related to library and information science.

• Enhance the training and professional development of the library and archival workforce to meet the needs of their communities.

Throughout its work, IMLS places importance on diversity, equity, and inclusion. This may be reflected in an IMLS-funded project in a wide range of ways, including efforts to serve individuals of diverse geographic, cultural, and socioeconomic backgrounds; individuals with disabilities; individuals with limited functional literacy or information skills; individuals having difficulty using a library or museum; and underserved urban and rural communities, including children from families with incomes below the poverty line.

Application Process: The application process for the LB21 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 20, 2024.

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

Cost sharing is not considered in the peer review of applications but is an eligibility criterion for certain LB21 project types. See the Notice of Funding Opportunity for further information on cost share.

Grant Period: One to two years for Planning Grants and Forum Grants. One to three years for Implementation Grants, Applied Research Grants, and Early Career Development Grants.

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

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 peruse the IMLS Awarded Grants database to see projects IMLS has recently funded in this program.

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

Grant Program Webinar: We invite you to watch a pre-application webinar to learn more about the program.