Native American Library Services Basic Grant (2022) | NAG BASIC FY22

Opportunity Information: Apply for NAG BASIC FY22

The Native American Library Services Basic Grant (2022), offered by the Institute of Museum and Library Services (IMLS), is a discretionary grant program meant to help federally recognized Native American tribal governments strengthen and improve core library services for their communities. It is positioned within the Arts and Humanities funding area (CFDA 45.311) and focuses on practical, foundational support for tribal library operations and services rather than large-scale, highly specialized projects. In short, it is intended to help tribal libraries better meet everyday community needs by improving access to information, building skills, and supporting learning.

The program aligns with IMLS agency-wide priorities that emphasize lifelong learning, deeper community engagement, and strong stewardship of library collections with better access for users. In practice, that means funding is aimed at helping tribal libraries provide and improve services that support education and learning at all ages, including access to information in multiple formats. The opportunity highlights a broad range of community outcomes that libraries can support, such as workforce development and job readiness, economic and business development, access to health information, and the development of critical thinking skills. It also explicitly calls out several modern literacy areas as priorities, including digital literacy and financial literacy, while leaving room for other literacy needs that a community identifies.

A second major focus is strengthening the library workforce itself. The grant is intended to help enhance the skills of current library staff and leadership through training, continuing education, and professional development opportunities. This emphasis recognizes that sustainable improvements in services often depend on staff capacity, especially in smaller or rural library settings where personnel may be limited and staff frequently wear multiple hats.

For the 2022 cycle, the funding opportunity number is NAG BASIC FY22. The application window opened based on a creation date of December 1, 2021, with an original closing date of March 1, 2022. Awards were relatively small and widely distributed, with an award ceiling of $10,000 and an expected 172 awards, suggesting the program is designed to reach many tribes and provide baseline support that can be applied to immediate local priorities in library service delivery. Eligible applicants are federally recognized Native American tribal governments, reflecting the program's purpose of supporting tribal library services directly through tribal governance structures.

• 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 "Native American Library Services Basic Grant (2022)" and is now available to receive applicants.
• Interested and eligible applicants and submit their applications by referencing the CFDA number(s): 45.311.
• This funding opportunity was created on Dec 01, 2021.
• Applicants must submit their applications by Mar 01, 2022. (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 $10,000.00 in funding.
• The number of recipients for this funding is limited to 172 candidate(s).
• Eligible applicants include: Native American tribal governments (Federally recognized).

Apply for NAG BASIC FY22

[Watch] Creating a grant proposal using the step-by-step wizard inside the applicant portal: