National Leadership Grants for Libraries (2024) | NLG LIBRARIES FY24

Opportunity Information: Apply for NLG LIBRARIES FY24

The National Leadership Grants for Libraries (NLG-L) program is a discretionary federal grant opportunity from the Institute of Museum and Library Services (IMLS) designed to fund high-impact projects that tackle important, field-wide needs in libraries and archives. The central idea is to invest in work that strengthens library and archival services for the American public and advances professional practice in ways that extend beyond a single institution. IMLS is looking for projects that create broadly useful outcomes such as new models, practical tools, research results, improved services, scalable practices, and durable partnerships or alliances. A key expectation is that the work not only contributes to knowledge and understanding, but also produces tangible benefits that justify the public investment and can be adopted, adapted, scaled, or replicated by others.

IMLS frames the program around several long-range goals, all centered on far-reaching impact. One major goal is strengthening the workforce and institutional capacity needed to manage the national information infrastructure and meet the public's information and education needs, which can include training approaches, competency development, and organizational improvements that make library and archival work more resilient and effective. Another goal is expanding the ability of libraries and archives to lead and meaningfully contribute to community well-being and civic engagement, supporting initiatives that help communities connect, participate, and thrive. The program also prioritizes projects that broaden access to information and collections and promote effective use of those resources, with a strong emphasis on collaboration to avoid duplication of effort and to maximize reach. In addition, IMLS specifically calls for work that improves library services during emergencies or disasters, strengthening preparedness, response, and continuity of service for affected communities. Finally, the program encourages cross-sector collaboration, aiming to strengthen the ability of libraries, archives, and museums to work together in ways that benefit the communities they serve.

Diversity, equity, and inclusion are a consistent priority throughout the program and can be reflected in many different project designs and outcomes. IMLS highlights serving people across diverse geographic, cultural, and socioeconomic backgrounds, as well as individuals with disabilities, people with limited functional literacy or information skills, and those who have difficulty using a library or museum due to barriers in access, skills, or inclusion. The opportunity also explicitly emphasizes support for underserved urban and rural communities, including children in families living below the poverty line. In practice, this means competitive proposals often build equitable access and measurable public benefit into the project goals, methods, partnerships, and dissemination plans.

The application process is structured as a two-phase competition. Applicants must start with Phase I by submitting a Preliminary Proposal by the Phase I deadline (listed as September 20 in the notice). After review of Preliminary Proposals, only selected applicants are invited to proceed to Phase II. In Phase II, invited applicants submit Full Proposals, and only these invited full submissions are eligible to be considered for funding. For this 2024 cycle, the deadline for Invited Full Proposals is March 20, 2024, which is also reflected as the original closing date in the source information.

From a funding and administrative standpoint, this opportunity is offered as a grant, categorized under arts and humanities-related funding activity areas (cultural affairs). The program listing includes CFDA number 45.312. The award ceiling is up to $1,000,000 per award, and IMLS anticipates making about 39 awards. The opportunity is identified as "National Leadership Grants for Libraries (2024)" with the funding opportunity number "NLG LIBRARIES FY24," and it was created on July 13, 2023. Eligibility is indicated as "Others," with additional details expected in the full eligibility language of the notice, meaning prospective applicants should verify that their organization type fits the program's specific eligibility rules before investing heavily in proposal development.

Overall, NLG-L is aimed at ambitious, collaborative, and replicable work that can move the library and archives fields forward at a national scale. The strongest fits are projects that address pressing shared challenges, produce concrete outputs others can reuse, and demonstrate clear pathways for broad adoption and public benefit, while aligning with IMLS priorities around equity, access, resilience, and cross-institutional partnership.

• The Institute of Museum and Library Services in the arts (see cultural affairs in cfda), humanities (see cultural affairs in cfda) sector is offering a public funding opportunity titled "National Leadership Grants for Libraries (2024)" and is now available to receive applicants.
• Interested and eligible applicants and submit their applications by referencing the CFDA number(s): 45.312.
• This funding opportunity was created on Jul 13, 2023.
• Applicants must submit their applications by Mar 20, 2024. (Agency may still review applications by suitable applicants for the remaining/unused allocated funding in 2026.)
• Each selected applicant is eligible to receive up to $1,000,000.00 in funding.
• The number of recipients for this funding is limited to 39 candidate(s).
• Eligible applicants include: Others (see text field entitled Additional Information on Eligibility for clarification).

Apply for NLG LIBRARIES FY24

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