Laura Bush 21st Century Librarian Program

Deadline:

September 27, 2019

Application: The Notice of Funding Opportunity (NOFO) for FY2020 (PDF 472KB) is now available

Program Overview:
The Laura Bush 21st Century Librarian Program (LB21) supports developing a diverse workforce of librarians to better meet the changing learning and information needs of the American public by: enhancing the training and professional development of library and archives professionals, developing faculty and library leaders, and recruiting and educating the next generation of library and archives professionals.

All applications must designate one of the following project categories:

Lifelong Learning
Community Catalysts
National Digital Infrastructures and Initiatives

The application process for the LB21 program has two phases. In the first phase (Preliminary Proposal phase), all applicants must submit a two-page preliminary proposal by the deadline listed above. Selected applicants will be invited to submit full proposals in the second phase (Invited Full Proposal phase) of the process. Only invited full proposals will be considered for funding.

Invited full proposals will be due March 30, 2020.

Grant Amount: Planning Grants: up to $100,000. National Forum Grants: up to $150,000. Project Grants: up to $1,000,000. Research Grants: up to $500,000.

Cost Share Requirement: Cost sharing is not considered in the review of applications, but is an eligibility criterion for certain LB21 projects, as follows.

Funding category	Award amount	Cost sharing requirement
Planning Grants	Up to $100,000	No cost share required
National Forum Grants	Up to $150,000	No cost share required
Project Grants	Up to $1,000,000	Projects requesting $250,000 or more in IMLS funds require 1:1 cost share, excluding student support costs
Research Grants	Up to $500,000	No cost share required

See the Notice of Funding Opportunity for further information on cost sharing.

Grant Period: One year for Planning Grants. One to two years for National Forum Grants. One to three years for Project Grants and Research Grants, except for doctoral program projects, which may be one to four years.

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

Program Contacts: We encourage you to contact the member of our team whose portfolio most closely aligns with your proposal.

Jill Connors-Joyner, jconnors-joyner@imls.gov