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The New York State Library has allocated a total of $1 million in federal Library Services and Technology Act (LSTA) funds for a two-year Invitational Grant Program focused on assisting library systems to help their member libraries improve library services for their customers and to implement New York State’s LSTA Five Year Plan 2007-2012. Grant allotments will be $500,000 for the period April 1, 2008 to March 31, 2009 and $500,000 for the period April 1, 2009 to march 31, 2010.
Grant projects shall be linked to one or more of the four goals in New York’s LSTA Five Year Plan and to one or more of the six federal LSTA purposes and to the library system’s Five-Year Plan of Service.
View New York’s LSTA Five-Year Plan
The four goals of New York State’s 2007-2012 LSTA Five-Year Plan include:
The six federal LSTA purposes include:
Projects might include, but are not necessarily limited to:
Applicants are required to use an outcome-based evaluation approach for measuring the results of projects whose activities involve proposed changes in participants’ knowledge, skill, attitude or behavior. (For more about this type of evaluation, see Project Evaluation on page 5 of these guidelines.)
Some possible outcomes, based on the types of projects mentioned above, follow:
Grants will be made to library systems only, based on a formula for each type of system. Note that these grants will be for two years and funds will be awarded over two years: half the funds awarded for the period April 1, 2008 through March 31, 2009 and the second funding cycle will be for April 1, 2009 through March 31, 2010. As these are federal funds, there is no guarantee of the same level of funding for the second year.
Grant funds may not be carried over from one funding cycle to the next. LSTA funds must be used within their designated funding cycle.
A first year project progress report is required and is due at the New York State Library’s Division of Library Development by January 30, 2009. Such report must be approved in order to receive funding for the second year of the grant project.
The level of funding for which each type of system is eligible to apply is listed on the State Library’s LSTA web site
For regional and statewide projects, the application should clearly demonstrate how improvement will occur in each individual system’s service area. The application should also include a list of library systems that are expected to participate in the project.
Computer equipment may be purchased with project funds, but is subject to CIPA requirements. There is a 35% match for all equipment and software costing $5,000 or more.
Ineligible expenditures include food for project activities, costs for substitute staff for others to attend training (though travel costs to training may be paid), and conference attendance. Promotional materials for incentive purposes may not be purchased with federal LSTA funds. Please see the information about promotional materials under Application below.
Projects funded under this program will run for two years, from April 1, 2008 to March 31, 2010. Applications must be received in the New York State Library Division of Library Development offices by 5 pm on March 4, 2008. The application and all forms are on the State Library web site
Applications under this two-year LSTA Invitational Grant Program are covered by all the conditions of application, expenditure of funds, and federal assurances that govern LSTA grant programs. The application and all forms can be found under the Service Improvement Invitational Grant Program on the LSTA web site Some specific points are noted below.
Application
Although this is not a competitive grant program, each application must be received in the State Library by the deadline of 5 pm March 4, 2008. No fax or electronic applications will be accepted. Applications received after this deadline will not be accepted. The application should have answers to all questions and include all necessary supplemental forms as well as the short budget form, FS-20.
If using an overnight or express mail service, applicants should use only United Parcel Service (UPS), Airborne Express or DHL Worldwide Express. These companies have complied with the State Education Department’s request that all deliveries be made directly to the addressee. Federal Express and the United States Postal Service are not providing addressor to addressee service. Keep this in mind if you plan to use express mail. Experience in receiving applications has shown that it is unwise to depend on express mail the day before the deadline.
There is an assurance on page 3 of the application form which relates to use of LSTA funds for Promotional Materials. The applicant agrees that it will comply with all applicable federal laws, regulations, and Office of Management and Budget (OMB) circulars in regard to use of LSTA funds to purchase materials to promote the purpose and activities of the project being proposed. The undersigned assures the New York State Library that such promotional materials are educational and informational in nature and have a clearly demonstrable and legitimate purpose that is directly related to the LSTA grant project for which the applicant is seeking funds. Applicants should not refer to such materials as “incentives”, “promotional materials”, or “prizes” in either the application or any project report.
FormsThe customized short budget form, FS-20, is on the State Library’s web site along with other required forms: Authentication, Debarment and Suspension, and CIPA. There are also general instructions for completing the application and forms as well as the Congressional Districts table on this site. The Authentication form is the one signed by a Board President or District Superintendent while the others are signed by the System Director.
Matching Funds
Matching funds of 35% are required for all equipment and software of $5,000 or more. A system and/or a local library may pay the match. For items requiring a match, the answer to question 5 of the application must supply the full cost of the equipment and indicate the amount requested from LSTA.
In-kind Funds
Applications require realistic estimates of the type and dollar amounts to be applied to implementing the LSTA project. For example, the project may require 10% of a system staff member's time to administer it at a cost of $X. Partners' and collaborators' time or other resources should be listed as well. The time spent by member library staff in a training workshop is not considered an in-kind contribution, but the time the staff member spends to practice or use what is learned at the workshop could be an in-kind contribution. This information is required because it is used by the State Library to report on the real costs of developing and implementing LSTA projects.
Expenditure of Funds
1. Uses of Funds
2. Encumbering Funds
In order for certain types of purchases, such as equipment, library materials, and supplies, to be received and paid for within a project time period, all grant/contract recipients should order such materials no later than December 1 of the project time period.
3. Requesting Funds and Report Expenditures
Except for the initial 20 percent payment at the beginning of the project, LSTA funds are released on the basis of an approved "Expenditure Report and Monthly/Quarterly Request for Funds" (FS-25) found on the State Library’s LSTA web site Applicants file the FS-25 form directly with the SED Grants Finance Office on a quarterly basis at the address on the form, while the FS-10F (final expenditure report) goes to the New York State Library's Division of Library Development.
Entities that earn interest on advances from LSTA funds may keep interest amounts up to $250 per year. Amounts above that amount must be returned to the State Library for return to IMLS.
Copyright
IMLS reserves a royalty-free, nonexclusive, and irrevocable license to reproduce, publish or otherwise use, and authorize others to use, for Federal government purposes:
Sharing of Grant Projects and Activities
Grant recipients are requested to share their projects and project activities and outcomes as appropriate.
Project Evaluation
The LSTA Program, administered by the Federal Institute of Museum and Library Services (IMLS) must meet the requirement of the Government Performance and Results Act of 1993 to document results of grant activities. IMLS uses the reports of states' subgrantees to show that LSTA grants make a vital contribution to library audiences and their communities. The State Library is committed to showing--to the Institute of Museum and Library Services and the library community nationwide--that New York's LSTA Program is effective in meeting the needs of library users.
Each LSTA project should have an evaluation plan in place at the beginning of the project because those involved in the activities need to know how to gather data from that point. The plan should include measures to document the results of project activities (outputs) and results (outcomes) for the users (those that benefit from the project). Outputs are a direct program product such as number of workshops given, number of participants served, and types of materials developed. Outputs are typically measured in numbers because they are basically quantitative. Outcomes are beneficial changes for program participants that include changes in skills, knowledge, behavior, attitude, status, or life condition.
For the Service Improvement Invitational Grant Program, the use of outcome-based evaluation is required for any project that involves changes in the target audience's skills, knowledge, behavior, attitude or status as a result of the activities of the project. Measuring results means that project planners need to focus on what change they would like to see for the participants and plan for how to measure that change in outcome-based evaluation (OBE) terms. OBE answers questions such as “What difference did the program make in people’s lives?” and “How did the participant benefit from the program?”
For projects where OBE is not appropriate, applicants may choose other types of measures (upon approval of the LSTA Coordinator), generally ones that count outputs or document customer satisfaction. However, applicants need to remember that any project that anticipates the participants’ learning a new skill or knowledge or exhibiting a change in attitude or behavior must use OBE evaluation.
OBE informational and training materials can be found on the State Library web site
Credit to LSTA
All products, regardless of format or method of distribution and including Internet web sites, which are created totally or in part under an LSTA grant should include the following acknowledgement:
"This publication (product) was supported by (or "in part by") Federal Library Services and Technology Act funds, awarded to the New York State Library by the Federal Institute of Museum and Library Services."
In addition, flyers and other announcements of library programs and services should carry an acknowledgement such as the following:
Reports"Supported by (or "in part by") Federal Library Services and Technology Act funds, awarded to the New York State Library by the Federal Institute of Museum and Library Services."
An interim progress report for the first year of the project will be due on January 30, 2009. A final narrative report and an expenditure report (FS-10F) for the first year of the project will be due on April 30, 2009. These forms will be posted on the LSTA web site for the Service Improvement Invitational Grant Program. Failure to submit all required forms will result in a delay of second year project funding.
Questions about this Invitational Grant Program may be directed to Mary Linda Todd, LSTA Coordinator at 518-486-4858, mtodd@mail.nysed.gov .
Three copies of the completed application (one with original signatures), budget (FS-20) and all related forms must be received in the offices of the State Library’s Division of Library Development by 5 pm March 4, 2008.