Appropriations Request

for Fiscal Year 2021

February 10, 2020

 
2

INSTITUTE OF MUSEUM AND LIBRARY SERVICES

Fiscal Year 2021 Appropriations Request

Table of Contents

Page 

I. Introduction 3

II. Grant Programs 4

III. Budget Request Table 7

IV. Assumptions and Estimated Costs for Agency Shutdown 9

V. Program and Performance Highlights 10

VI. Authorizing Framework 16

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 
3

I. Introduction: The Institute of Museum and Library Services 

The Institute of Museum and Library Services is an independent grantmaking agency and the 

primary source of federal support for the nation’s libraries and museums. The mission of IMLS is to 

advance, support, and empower America’s museums, libraries, and related organizations through 

grantmaking, research, and policy development. Our vision is a nation where museums and libraries 

work together to transform the lives of individuals and communities. 

IMLS was created with the passage of the Museum and Library Services Act of 1996, which was 

reauthorized on December 31, 2018. The agency has statutory authority to award financial 

assistance, collect data, form strategic partnerships, and advise policymakers and other federal 

agencies on museum, library, and information services. The agency consolidates federal library 

programs dating back to 1956 with museum programs dating back to 1976. On January 24, 2020, 

the Trump Administration commissioned the sixth director of IMLS, Crosby Kemper III.

The agency helps to ensure that all Americans have access to museum, library, and information 

services. IMLS invests in new and exploratory approaches, as well as proven and tested methods, 

funding work that advances collective knowledge, lifelong learning, and cultural and civic 

engagement. And the agency builds capacity within the museum and library fields to enable better 

service to communities and to enhance community decision-making by sharing trends and data. 

IMLS has an expansive reach. The agency is the largest source of federal funding for libraries in the 

nation, directing population-based funding to all 50 states, the District of Columbia, the U.S.

territories, and Freely Associated States through its Grants to States program. The agency’s 

discretionary grants are selected through a highly respected and competitive peer review process, 

drawing on professionals located across the nation. This work enables museums and libraries 

located in geographically and economically diverse areas to deliver essential services that make it 

possible for individuals and communities to flourish.

When IMLS was established, lawmakers recognized that libraries and museums in the United States 

are powerful national assets. They saw “great potential in an Institute that is focused on the 

combined roles that libraries and museums play in our community life.” The law charges IMLS with 

advising policymakers on library, museum, and information services and supporting a wide range of 

programs that improve the lives of millions. 

We carry out this charge as we adapt to meet the changing needs of our nation’s museums and 

libraries and their communities. IMLS’s role—to advance, support, and empower America’s museums 

and libraries through our grantmaking, research, data collection, and policy development—is 

essential to helping these institutions navigate change and continue to improve their services. 

The agency’s strategic goals and objectives are outlined in Transforming Communities, the IMLS 

Strategic Plan 2018–2022. This plan, developed with input from our stakeholders, frames how we 

envision meeting the essential information, education, research, economic, cultural, and civic needs 

of the American public: 

1. Promote Lifelong Learning: IMLS supports learning and literacy for people of all ages through 

museums and libraries.

2. Build Capacity: IMLS strengthens the capacity of museums and libraries to improve the wellbeing of their communities.
4

3. Increase Public Access: IMLS makes strategic investments that increase access to 

information, ideas, and networks through libraries and museums.

4. Achieve Excellence: IMLS strategically aligns its resources and relationships to support 

libraries and museums nationwide.

 

II. Grant Programs 

IMLS grants programs support a wide range of museum, library, and information services that 

benefit millions of Americans each year. The agency’s grants support museums of all disciplines, 

including zoos, children’s museums, science centers, botanical gardens, and nature centers, as well 

as libraries and archives of all types, including public, research, academic, and tribal. IMLS builds 

capacity among museums and libraries to help them address the unique economic, information, 

education, and civic needs of their communities. 

In FY 2019 and FY 2020, the agency’s notices of funding opportunity incorporated several strategic 

changes, including: 

• Incorporation of current priorities among the museum and library sectors, such as: 

o Investing in digital infrastructures, platforms and educational tools;

o Increasing accessibility to address technology, financial or physical limitations;

o Enhancing communities’ social and economic wellbeing; 

o Collections stewardship; 

o Diversity and inclusion; 

o Broadband and digital literacy; and

o Family and adult learning.

• Encouragement for applicants to build upon prior IMLS-funded research or exploratory work 

to extend those investments into more widely accessible practices or tools through piloting or 

scaling projects.

• Greater emphasis on professional development; organizational capacity-building and 

training; and assessment and evaluation.

The agency also engaged in targeted outreach to motivate submissions from new applicant 

institutions, as well as those who have not applied for several years. Also targeted were institutions 

located in geographically diverse regions, including those serving rural areas, which have been 

under-represented in the agency’s applicant pools. IMLS also offered two new library and museum

funding opportunities to better serve the needs of smaller institutions and their communities.

 

Library Grants 

The Grants to States Program is the largest source of federal funding support for library services in 

the United States. Using a population based formula, more than $160 million was awarded in FY 

2019 to the State Library Administrative Agencies (SLAAs) located in each of the 50 states, the 

District of Columbia, the United States Territories, and the Freely Associated States. For the FY 2020

budget, an increase of $6 million brought the total funding for states up to $166.8 million.
5

SLAAs use the funds to support statewide initiatives and services, as well as more than 1,500 

projects each year, which are directly carried out by public, academic, research, school, and special 

libraries. States use the funds to address the statutory purposes and priorities in the Library Services 

and Technology Act (LSTA), ensuring the availability of library services by providing access to 

electronic databases, computer instruction, homework centers, summer reading programs, 

digitization of special collections, access to e-books and adaptive technology, bookmobile service, 

and tools supporting workforce development. This program is critical to ensuring digital access for 

everyone in the United States, wherever located.

As one priority of the program is to address underserved communities and persons having difficulty 

using a library, more than ten percent of grant funds in recent years has supported library services 

for individuals who are blind, visually impaired, or who have other disabilities. 

National Leadership Grants for Libraries (NLG-L) support projects that address significant challenges 

and opportunities facing the library and archive fields and that have the potential for far‐reaching 

impact. By generating new tools, research, and practice models that can be widely replicated, NLG-L 

projects influence theory and practice throughout the library and archival communities. These

investments ultimately support students, educators, families, and at-risk individuals by providing 

easier access to information and skill-building resources.

The Laura Bush 21st Century Librarian Program (LB21) grants support professional development, 

graduate education, and continuing education to help libraries and archives develop a better 

equipped and more diverse workforce to more strategically meet the changing learning and 

information needs of the American public. LB21 investments cross a wide range of practice areas—

from early learning to digital literacy—that reach into communities both urban and rural. 

Native American/Native Hawaiian Library Services (NANH) grants build capacity among native 

communities to meet the educational needs of their populations. It offers three categories of grants 

to libraries or organizations serving the needs of federally recognized Indian tribes and Native 

Hawaiians. 

• Basic tribal grants to support existing library operations and maintain core library services,

including purchasing collection materials, computers, and Internet connectivity to provide 

access to online resources;

• Tribal enhancement grants to expand and enhance existing library services or implement 

new library services including partnerships for learning and access. This includes support for 

literacy initiatives, language preservation and revitalization, and oral history projects.

• Native Hawaiian grants to enhance existing or to support new services in organizations that 

serve native Hawaiians. This includes support for development of K-12 teaching materials, 

language preservation and revitalization, and oral history projects.

Museum Grants 

These investments cross all types of museums, including children’s museums, science centers, 

history museums, art museums, historic houses, zoos, aquaria, planetariums, botanical gardens,

and general museums supporting lifelong learning, community engagement, preservation, and 

access to collections and stories. 
6

National Leadership Grants for Museums (NLG-M) support projects that address critical needs of the 

museum field and that have the potential to advance professional practice that spur museums to

improve services for the American public. NLG-M projects support novel approaches, new research, 

techniques, models, common and shared platforms, and collaborative processes, all with the 

potential for far-reaching impact within the museum field.

IMLS staff share information about NLG-M funded projects through the IMLS website, blogs, and 

case study discussions on panels at national and state conferences so that the whole museum 

sector to learn from, adopt, and adapt these models.

Museums for America Program (MFA) grants support projects that strengthen an individual

museum’s ability to serve its public. The program supports a wide spectrum of museums of all sizes

and geographic locations, building capacity and helping improving services in local communities.

MFA projects demonstrate institutional impact, addressing a key goal identified in the institution’s 

strategic plan with project elements designed to generate measurable results. They support 

museums in preserving the artifacts that are essential to community identity, as well as offering 

valued programs and exhibits to meet local needs and drive economic activity.

Museums Empowered: Professional Development and Capacity Building Opportunities for Museums

is a special MFA initiative that provides professional development and capacity-building 

opportunities. This enables museums to address relevant needs of their local communities in four 

areas: Digital Technology; Diversity and Inclusion; Evaluation; or Organizational Management.

Funded projects are designed to bring about transformative and systemic change in the recipient 

institutions and also impact the communities they serve.

Museum Grants for African American History and Culture Program (AAHC) grants support projects 

that improve the operations, care of collections, and development of professional management at 

museums of African American history and culture. 

Native American/Native Hawaiian Museum Services (NANH) grants support federally recognized

Indian tribes and organizations that primarily serve Native Hawaiians. NANH grants help sustain 

heritage, culture, and knowledge through various initiatives, including exhibitions, educational 

services and programming, professional development, and collections stewardship, including the 

collection and preservation of oral history traditions. Grant-supported activities demonstrate 

institutional impact by addressing an identified need or challenge facing an organization.

 

III. Budget Request Table 

The President’s budget has proposed eliminating funding for the Institute of Museum and Library 

Services (IMLS) in FY 2021. As a result, IMLS requests $23M to begin the orderly closure of the 

Agency. The request reflects current ongoing activities that will extend into FY 2021, those that are 

legislatively mandated, such as the library data collections and analysis, and those other areas and 

activities that may transition to other federal partners. Estimates provided assume enacted 

legislation to terminate funding for IMLS on October 1, 2020. 
7

Summary Table

Budget Category President’s Budget Request 

Personnel Compensation & Benefits $14,000,000

Rent, Communication Services, and Utilities $2,000,000

Contractual Services, Interagency Agreements, 

and other expenses

$7,000,000

TOTAL $23,000,000 

 

Details of Cost Estimates by Budget Category

Personnel Compensation & Benefits 

These object classes fund the salaries and benefits of all employees, including full-time, part-time, 

temporary, and intermittent appointments (for example, the National Museum and Library Services 

Board [NMLSB]), and consultants. To minimize personnel costs, the salary for the NMLSB will remain 

at $100/day. The personnel benefits provide estimated contributions toward employees’ retirement, 

health, and life insurance plans, as well as costs for unemployment benefits and any injuries 

sustained in the workplace. Additionally, costs associated with public transportation subsidies 

afforded to the Agency’s employees are included in this category. This funding request will provide 

for 71 full-time employees during FY 2021, with reduced staff occurring in the last quarter to begin 

procedures and activities for an orderly Agency shutdown. Additionally, funding in this category 

includes leave and severance payouts, COLA, and unemployment costs.

Real Estate (Rent for GSA space), Communications and Utilities, Equipment Rental, Telephone 

Services, Postage 

This object class includes funding for the Agency’s office space through GSA; communication 

technology services, including data, voice, and cable services; equipment rental; and postage. 

Contractual Services, Interagency Agreements, Equipment, Data Collection & Warehousing 

This object class supports a wide range of contractual services and federal interagency agreements 

that are not covered in any of the preceding categories, as well as any termination costs that would 

be associated with preparing for an orderly Agency shutdown. All interagency agreements would be

required to continue in FY 2021 to begin the orderly shutdown of the Agency, with increased costs in 

certain areas such as records management and NARA requirements, data migration activities, 

financial closeouts, and the disposal of furniture, fixtures and equipment. Covered areas and 

activities include: 

• The support and maintenance of Agency information technology (IT) systems, including cybersecurity activities, the IMLS website, and the State Program Reporting System, among 

others;

• IT software licenses and incidentals;

• Cleaning and disposing of computers and servers;

• Data archiving and documentation management and/or transfers to other federal partners 

for historical purposes and public use;

• Ongoing data collection activities, including the Public Library Survey and the State Library 

Administrative Survey;

• Partnerships and interagency agreements with and for:
8

o Federal Aviation Administration - Enterprise Services Center (ESC) for financial 

management and reporting, financial system maintenance, and full accounting 

services;

o Department of Interior (DOI) – National Business Center (NBC) for full payroll services 

and reporting;

o Department of Transportation – E2 Solutions – for travel processing;

o Department of Interior for indirect grant cost proposal services,

o General Services Administration (GSA) and Department of Treasury for Data Act 

requirements and HSPD-12 maintenance;

o Federal Protective Services (FPS) for building security;

o Office of Personnel Management (OPM) for personnel investigations, credit 

monitoring, and electronic personnel filing; 

o National Endowment for the Arts (NEA) for staff health services;

o National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH) for the partnership to support

electronic grants management services (eGMS) governance and infrastructure costs;

o Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) for Grants.gov related expenses;

o Equal Employment Opportunities (EEO); and

o Other required government services. 

• Independent financial and IT-related audits;

• National Archives and Records Administration (NARA) management and disposition; 

• Agency contracts for temporary personnel assistance; 

• General supplies;

• Required travel for Board meetings, Grants to States site visits per legislation, final Data 

Coordinators’ meeting, other meetings and conferences for the Director and other senior 

staff for grant monitoring and closure activities. 

 

IV. Assumptions and Estimated Costs for Agency Shutdown Beginning in FY 

2021 

IMLS will fulfill its federal responsibilities for grants and essential contracts prior to FY 2021. While 

no new applications will be accepted, nor awards made, beginning in FY 2021, IMLS will require 

administrative funding to support a reduced workforce and related costs to effectively terminate all 

Agency operations. All current awards will remain active until their already established end dates,

many of which go beyond FY 2021. The following assumptions have been made in estimating the 

costs of shutting down the Agency. 

• Current grantees will be notified that a reduced number of IMLS staff will be available to 

monitor, administer, and close out existing grants.

• Current vendors will be notified that their contracts will be terminated if their services are no 

longer required to perform an orderly shutdown of the Agency.

• Prospective applicants will be notified on the termination of the Agency’s grant programs. 

The public will be notified via the IMLS website.

• Federal partners will be notified that current interagency agreements will be terminated as 

deemed necessary. 
9

• IMLS private-sector partners will be notified that any partnership activities that were to be 

undertaken in FY 2021 will be terminated. 

• IMLS will continue to reduce staff during the orderly shutdown. Those staff remaining on 

board will be responsible for conducting the necessary oversight and proper closeout 

activities of open grant awards, contracts, and interagency agreements. Others will provide 

the necessary oversight for these employees, while initiating the logical shutdown of IMLS 

systems, financial reporting, building operations, publications, and mandatory personnelrelated work for these activities.

• For discontinued employees, all appropriate compensation will be provided, including but not 

limited to severance pay, lump-sum payments for unused annual leave, and performance 

bonuses generated by eligible employees’ closeout performance appraisals.

 

V. Programmatic and Performance Highlights 

Library Grant Highlights 

• To encourage small and rural library applicants and strengthen their ability to serve their 

communities, IMLS launched a new funding opportunity in 2019, Accelerating Promising 

Practices for Small Libraries (APP). The first 30 awards totaling $1.2 million under this 

funding opportunity within the National Leadership Grants for Libraries will address the 

unique needs identified by tribal, rural, and small libraries. APP will also build grantee 

capacity through participation in a mentored community of practice based on their project 

category: School Library Practice, Community Memory, or Digital Inclusion.

• A state library project in Minnesota developed partnerships between public libraries and coin 

laundromats to test new models of early literacy outreach using Grants to States funds. This 

successful pilot was expanded through FY 2019 National Leadership Grants for Libraries 

funding.

• To further scale promising work with citizen science resources and public libraries, IMLS 

strengthened investments in low-cost toolkits that circulate in libraries in support of vetted 

citizen science projects. This supplemental National Leadership Grant to Arizona State 

University will continue progress made since 2017. 

• IMLS hosted and participated in two key stakeholder meetings in 2019 to enhance the 

agency’s service to tribal communities. An IMLS Tribal Libraries Convening in June helped to 

identify shared needs in order to expand opportunity, access, and connectivity to Indian 

Country, and a National Tribal Broadband Summit was carried out as part of the American 

Broadband Initiative. 

• In addition to project-based grants, IMLS continues to fund early career research. An FY 

2019 award to Louisiana State University faculty is researching effective practices to help 

archivists assist veterans and active duty personnel in preserving their personal digital 

archives, since contemporary soldiers no longer create and maintain analog personal 

archives as they did in the past. 

• IMLS funded the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign University Library to develop a 

three-year continuing education program to train academic library practitioners to address 
10

privacy and related ethical implications of learning analytics projects. Laura Bush 21st 

Century Librarian Program funds will support face-to-face and online trainings of 200 

participants each and make the training curriculum openly available.

Museum Grant Highlights 

• The Office of Museum Services supported projects in 48 states and the District of Columbia 

through its discretionary grants, National Medals for Museum Service awards, and

cooperative agreements.

• Launched at the end of 2018, Inspire! Grants for Small Museums, designed to encourage 

small institutions to apply for funding, generated 202 applications in its first year. Of those 

FY 2019 applications, IMLS awarded 30 grants totaling $1.1 million, representing 15 percent 

of the applicants, demonstrating a need for continued support for the nation’s small 

museums. 

• In order to align funding categories with evolving trends and needs of the museum sector, 

the agency revised its grant project categories across several funding programs. Applications 

to museum funding programs increased by 15 percent from 819 to 938, seeking support for 

diversity and inclusion, professional development initiatives, data analysis, assessment, and 

evaluation.

• An interagency agreement with the U.S. Department of Education provided funding of $1.9 

million to IMLS in collaboration with New York Hall of Science. The funding will scale up work 

with eight museums across the country, sharing STEM-based making opportunities with up to 

1,000 underserved students in 21st Century Community Learning Centers.

• IMLS launched three research and evaluation studies designed to better understand its 

investments, identify gaps and opportunities, and enhance its funding opportunities for the 

museum field: an evaluation of the Museum Grants for African American History and Culture 

program, now in its thirteenth year; a market analysis and opportunity assessment of 

museum capacity-building programs; and an analysis and synthesis of multi-year awarded 

grants. 

• To increase education about IMLS funding opportunities in remote areas and states with low 

participation numbers, the agency offered six regional grant-writing workshops for museums 

across the nation. Nearly 200 potential applicants attended the full-day workshops, including 

many small institutions and those who had not previously applied to IMLS for funding.

• IMLS held two convenings with the grantees of the African American History and Culture 

grant program and the Native American and Native Hawaiian grant program. A total of 92 

grantees from both programs attended the convenings respectively, shared their projects’ 

progress, successes and challenges and learned from their peers.

Goal 1: Promote Lifelong Learning—IMLS supports learning and literacy for people of all ages through 

museums and libraries. Example projects that were recently awarded supporting this goal include: 

Cultural Preservation: The Jemez Pueblo Community Library & Archives, in partnership with 

the Jemez Language Team, will be working with young adult tribal members to teach them 

art of making items that are necessary for participation in traditional Jemez cultural 

activities, such as ancestral dances and traditional games. These lessons will be digitally 

archived by the young adult tribal members under the supervision of the Jimenez Language 
11

Team. This effort will serve improve youth participation in tribal activities and maintain 

Jimenez traditions and ways of life for future generations.

Addressing Community Crisis: The Fort Belknap Indian Community Council’s Aaniiih Nakoda 

College Library (ANCL) and its partners will address Fort Belknap’s substance abuse crisis. 

ANCL will provide information resources, educational programming, and outreach activities to 

build awareness, knowledge, and self-efficacy among community members in the areas of 

substance abuse prevention and treatment.

Diversifying the Workforce: The Mentored Internships for Diversity cooperative agreement 

with the American Library Association’s Public Library Association (PLA) will offer another year 

of its Inclusive Internship Initiative to provide 79 public libraries in 40 states with the 

opportunity to offer paid, mentored internships to high school students from diverse 

backgrounds. 

Goal 2: Build Capacity—IMLS strengthens the capacity of museums and libraries to improve the 

wellbeing of their communities. Example projects that were recently awarded supporting this goal 

include: 

Rural Communities: In 2019, the agency launched Accelerating Promising Practices for Small 

Libraries, a $1.2M+ special funding opportunity, which provides funding, and mentorship to 

small and rural libraries to develop, and implement projects addressing digital inclusion, 

community memory and school library transformation in localities ranging from urban 

neighborhoods, rural enclaves and tribal lands. The new funding opportunity led to a 

substantial number of new applicants and small and rural library grantees.

Veterans: The New York Botanical Garden is collaborating with the James J. Peters Veterans 

Administration Medical Center Resilience and Wellness Center to create a new horticultural 

therapy intervention for veterans. The Garden will create multi-session programs for veterans 

that are designed to reduce symptoms of social isolation and foster healthy and active 

lifestyles. A licensed horticultural therapist will facilitate a series of sessions, each consisting 

of four weeks of seasonally based activities that include planting, seed starting, watering, 

weeding, cooking, and nutrition education for up to 300 veterans. The garden will create a 

scalable program model for other organizations to support veteran populations with wellness 

opportunities using horticultural resources.

Wellbeing Impacts: Understanding the Social Wellbeing Impacts of the Nation’s Libraries and 

Museums is underway, and will provide a better understanding on a national level of the 

conditions under which museums and libraries contribute to quality of life and wellbeing in 

the communities they serve. This new study focuses on these institutions’ essential roles 

within communities to help them demonstrate the impact of their programs and services. 

Collections Stewardship: IMLS reached 79 museums in 35 states and territories through its

Collections Assessment for Preservation (CAP) program, administered by Foundation of the 

American Institute for Conservation of Historic and Artistic Works. Through this program, 

IMLS provides small and mid-sized museums with an assessment of the institution’s 

collections, buildings, and building systems, as well as policies and procedures relating to 

collections care. In order to be responsive to communities impacted by national disasters, 

CAP provided emergency assistance for museums in Florida, California, the Virgin Islands, 

and Puerto Rico. 

Support for Children: The Imagine Children's Museum is working with community partners to 

develop the Positive Futures program to support resilience in children who have experienced 

trauma. The program will focus on two populations--those in kinship care and children who 
12

have an incarcerated parent or loved one. A taskforce of museum staff and community 

partners will incorporate the experiences learned in a previous pilot program by adding 

elements to specifically address social emotional and core life skills. The museum will also 

develop a playbook for other children’s museums interested in offering similar programs for 

their communities.

Community Memory: The Jacquith Public Library in Vermont, in partnership with the 

Marshfield Historical Society, will bring together young adult and older adult residents in 

mentee/mentor relationships to discuss and capture the Town of Marshfield’s past and 

hopes for the future. Intergenerational dialogues and narratives will be contextualized 

through artifacts, and photographs from the Historical Society collections, and contributions 

from interviewees and community members.

Goal 3: Increase Public Access—IMLS makes strategic investments that increase access to 

information, ideas, and networks through libraries and museums. Example projects that were 

recently awarded supporting this goal include: 

Access to STEM Resources: In partnership and with significant increased financial support 

from the Department of Education, IMLS collaborated with the New York Hall of Science 

(NYSCI) to expand the scope and scale of Maker/STEM Education Support for 21st Century 

Community Learning Centers (CCLCs). Through this program, IMLS enables people of all 

backgrounds and abilities to discover and use museum collections resources (onsite) by 

providing tools to train museums and engage underserved youth. Since May 2019, 38 CCLC 

sites were assigned and 48 CCLC educators trained.

Library Accessibility: Syracuse University, in partnership with Infoplease, will address 

librarians’ knowledge and skills gaps related to the design and delivery of services for 

patrons with disabilities. Funded through the Laura Bush 21st Century Librarian program, will 

build the capacity of public, and academic librarians: 1) to meet the needs of patrons with 

disabilities, 2) to train library staff in inclusive and accessible library services to meet the 

needs of patrons with disabilities.

Museum Access: Museums for All, a partnership with the Association of Children’s Museums, 

is a unique access program that enables low-income families to visit museums and build 

lifelong museum habits. Participating museums offer free or greatly reduced admission fees 

year-round to Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) Electronic Benefit Transfer 

(EBT) cardholders. The program has progressed since 2014; to date, the program is offered 

through 459 museums in 48 states, the District of Columbia, and the U.S. Virgin Islands, and 

has attracted over 2.2 million visitors.

International Copyright: Last year, IMLS was part of an interagency team implementing The 

Marrakesh Treaty Facilitate Access to Published Works for Persons Who Are Blind, Visually 

Impaired or Otherwise Print Disabled, which took effect in the United States on May 8, 2019. 

IMLS participated on a multi-agency team to negotiate the Treaty, which addresses 

worldwide access barriers, including the lack of accessible works for individuals who are 

blind, visually impaired, or otherwise print disabled. The United States joined 88 other 

nations who have adopted the Treaty, which has already resulted in a significant increase in 

the worldwide availability of accessible resources. 

Census 2020: The agency’s Census 2020 collaboration is an example of helping museums 

and libraries serve as trusted, welcoming spaces for community engagement and dialogue. A 
13

grant to the University of Maryland iSchool ($101,592) is gathering stakeholders and 

developing material and training for promoting participation in the 2020 census. Arizona and 

Utah, for example, are using IMLS Grants to States funds ($47K and $16K respectively) for 

mini-grants to fund additional devices in local libraries to help them prepare for Census 

2020. 

Goal 4: Achieve Excellence—IMLS strategically aligns its resources and relationships to support 

libraries and museums nationwide. 

The agency is examining the outputs of its activities each year leading towards longer term outcomes 

to support the capacity of museums and libraries nationwide to serve their communities. Following 

the example of OPM, USAID, and other agencies and funders, IMLS is adopting an approach that 

articulates the anticipated effects of our various investments. IMLS also looks across its investments 

in grantmaking, research and data collection, policy, convening’s, and publications to find the right 

mix and balance of risk, reward, effort, and maturity of the concept or approach.

IMLS is focused on employee motivation as a key driver to achieve results. In FY 2021, the agency 

plans to increase award spending for employees by at least 1% over FY 2020 levels after conducting 

a review of the annual employee review and incentive process. IMLS has continued its commitment 

to improving efficiencies in systems and processes while maintaining fiscal responsibility, 

compliance in grants policy and management, risk management, ethics, and records management 

programs, among other areas:

Increased Accountability: In FY 2019, IMLS received its fourteenth consecutive unmodified 

opinion with no material weaknesses. This year, the focus was on more efficient 

measurement, evaluation, and tracking, and as a result, IMLS submitted an FY 2019 Annual 

Financial Report and an Annual Performance Report to increase accountability and 

transparency to OMB, Congress, and the American public. 

 

Risk Mitigation: IMLS has met or exceeded the Cross-Agency Priority Goal targets for all 10 of 

the cybersecurity metrics. The Inspector-General Metrics and independent evaluation of the 

IMLS information security program concluded that IMLS is “Overall: Effective” and “has gone 

through extensive efforts in securing the organization.” In FY 2019, IMLS completed major 

improvements to significantly strengthen its overall security posture. IMLS has mitigated key 

risks identified in an independent enterprise-wide IT assessment by migrating its information 

resources to interagency shared services and FEDRAMP compliant cloud-based services 

utilizing IaaS and SaaS models. 

Grantmaking Efficiency: With the launch of a new grants management system in October 

2019, IMLS achieved improved efficiencies, customer service, transparency, and reporting 

for agency analyses. Electronic Grants Management System (eGMS), developed by the 

National Endowment for the Humanities, also provides a more integrated experience for our 

peer reviewers who are essential to the quality of IMLS grantmaking.

Nationwide Feedback: IMLS hosted the annual Grants to States conference, which helps the 

agency share proven approaches with state library grantees and hear feedback that 

enhances IMLS programs and services. 75 attendees participated in the April 2019 

conference, including 68 representatives from all 50 states, DC, PR, and VI.
14

Interagency Collaboration: Through the National Tribal Broadband Summit on September 23 

and 24, 2019, IMLS, with Department of the Interior, Department of Education, and the 

White House, engaged 250 participants, supported four plenary and seven breakout 

sessions, and staffed a marketplace of opportunities exhibit hall. The cross-agency 

partnership and Summit helped promote the value of libraries and museums in addressing 

broadband/digital inclusion gaps and opportunities.

VI. Authorizing Framework 

The Museum and Library Services Act (MLSA) of 2018 was signed into law (PL 115-410) on 

December 31, 2018 by President Trump. The Act amends 20 USC Chapter 72, the statutory 

authorization of most IMLS activities, and authorizes appropriations for the Agency through FY 2025. 

In reauthorizing the MLSA, Congress and the Administration reaffirmed the essential role of the 

federal government in promoting access to information and educational resources to better serve 

the people of the United States and cultivate an educated and informed citizenry. The 

reauthorization also recognizes the special role of museums and libraries in promoting the 

information and educational needs of a democratic society. The reauthorization language calls upon 

IMLS to enhance policy research, data collection, analysis and modeling, and evaluation to enhance 

museum, library, and information services for all Americans. MLSA also authorizes activities to 

improve the recruitment, preparation, and professional development of museum professionals to 

preserve our heritage for future generations. The new provisions build upon responsibilities that 

were previously carried out by the former National Commission on Libraries and Information 

Sciences and the National Center for Education Statistics in the U.S. Department of Education. 

The agency’s programs are also authorized by the National Museum for African American History and 

Culture Act, 20 USC 80r-5.

This section provides highlights of the Museum and Library Services Act and the African American 

History and Culture Act.

Museum and Library Services Act (Library Services and Technology Act) 

All IMLS library programs support the following goals (20 U.S.C. 9121):

• To enhance coordination among Federal programs that relate to library and information 

services; 

• To facilitate access to resources in all types of libraries for the purpose of cultivating an 

educated and informed citizenry; 

• To encourage resource sharing among all types of libraries for the purpose of achieving 

economical and efficient delivery of library services to the public; 

• To promote literacy, education, and lifelong learning and to enhance and expand the 

services and resources provided by libraries, including those services and resources relating 

to workforce development, 21st century skills, and digital literacy skills; 

• To enhance the skills of the current library workforce and to recruit future professionals to 

the field of library and information services; 

• To ensure the preservation of knowledge and library collections in all formats and to enable 

libraries to serve their communities during disasters; 
15

• To enhance the role of libraries within the information infrastructure of the United States in 

order to support research, education, and innovation; and 

• To promote library services that provide users with access to information through national, 

State, local, regional, and international collaborations and networks.

LSTA Library Grants to States (20 USC 9141)

SLAAs may use IMLS funds for statewide initiatives and activities such as:

• expanding services for learning and access to information and educational resources in a 

variety of formats (including new and emerging technology), in all types of libraries, for 

individuals of all ages in order to support such individuals’ needs for education, lifelong 

learning, workforce development, economic and business development, health information, 

critical thinking skills, digital literacy skills, and financial literacy and other types of literacy 

skills; 

• establishing or enhancing electronic and other linkages and improved coordination among 

and between libraries and other organizations for the purpose of improving the quality of and 

access to library and information services;

• providing training and professional development, including continuing education, to enhance 

the skills of the current library workforce and leadership, and advance the delivery of library 

and information services; and enhancing efforts to recruit future professionals, including 

those from diverse and underrepresented backgrounds, to the field of library and information 

services;

• developing public and private partnerships with other agencies, tribes, and community-based 

organizations;

• targeting library services to individuals of diverse geographic, cultural, and socioeconomic 

backgrounds, to individuals with disabilities, and to individuals with limited functional literacy 

or information skills;

• targeting library and information services to persons having difficulty using a library and to 

underserved urban and rural communities, including children (from birth through age 17) from 

families with incomes below the poverty line (as defined by the Office of Management and 

Budget and revised annually in accordance with section 9902(2) of title 42) applicable to a 

family of the size involved; and

• developing library services that provide all users access to information through local, State, 

regional, national, and international collaborations and networks.

Library Discretionary Grants 

Through its National Leadership Grants Program (20 USC 9162), Laura Bush 21st Century Librarian 

Program (20 USC 9165), and Services for Native Americans and Hawaiians (2 USC 9161), IMLS 

grants are used for:

• building workforce and institutional capacity for managing the national information 

infrastructure and serving the information and education needs of the public;

• research and demonstration projects related to the improvement of libraries or the

enhancement of library and information services through effective and efficient use of new 

and emerging technologies, including projects that enable library users to acquire digital 
16

literacy skills and that make information resources more accessible and available; and 

dissemination of information derived from such projects;

• conserving, preserving, and digitizing library materials and resources, giving priority to projects 

emphasizing coordination, optimizing conditions for storage and future use, offering staff 

training, avoiding duplication, and providing access by researchers beyond the institution or 

library entity undertaking the project; and

• enhancing the ability of libraries to provide services to affected communities in the event of 

an emergency or disaster through: (1) the development of national, regional, statewide, or 

local emergency and disaster management plans that address communication and 

coordination of information and services for affected communities and ensure the 

preservation of knowledge and library collections; and (2) the implementation of the 

emergency and disaster management plans described or otherwise enabling libraries to 

provide services to affected communities in the event of an emergency or disaster.

Museum Discretionary Grants (Museum Services Act)

All IMLS museum programs support the following goals (20 USC §9171):

• To encourage and support museums in carrying out their educational role, as core providers 

of learning and in conjunction with schools, families, and communities; 

• To encourage and support museums in carrying out their public service role of connecting the 

whole of society to the cultural, artistic, historical, natural, and scientific understandings that 

constitute our diverse heritage;

• To encourage leadership, innovation, and applications of the most current technologies and 

practices to enhance museum services through international, national, regional, State, and 

local networks and partnerships;

• To assist, encourage, and support museums in carrying out their stewardship responsibilities 

to achieve the highest standards in conservation and care of the diverse cultural, historic, 

natural, and scientific heritage of the United States to benefit future generations;

• To assist, encourage, and support museums in achieving the highest standards of 

management and service to the public, and to ease the financial burden borne by museums 

as they serve their communities in new and different ways; 

• To support resource sharing and partnerships among museums, libraries, schools, and other 

community organizations; and

• To encourage and support museums as a part of economic development and revitalization in 

communities;

• To ensure museums of various types and sizes in diverse geographic regions of the United 

States are afforded attention and support;

• To support efforts at the State and regional levels to leverage museum resources and 

maximize museum services; and

• To assist museums in their civic engagement efforts to ensure that every person in the United 

States has access to high-quality museum services.
17

Policy Research, Data Collection, Analysis and Modeling, Evaluation, and Dissemination 

 

Section 9018 of Title 20 authorizes the Director of IMLS to support and conduct policy research, 

data collection, analysis and modeling, evaluation, and dissemination of information to carry out the 

following objectives:

• enhance and expand the capacity of museums, libraries, and information services to 

anticipate, respond to, and meet the evolving needs of communities and the public, 

including by identifying trends and developments that may impact the need for and delivery 

of services;

• provide information and data on the role, value, and impact of museum, library, and 

information resources, including the identification of trends and potential gaps in the 

availability and use of museum and library services by their communities and the public;

• measure the effectiveness of museums, libraries, and information services throughout the 

United States, including the impact of Federal programs;

• identify indicators and outcomes that can be used to create enhancements to the efficiency 

and efficacy of museum, library, and information services;

• promote advancement and growth in museum, library, and information services through 

sharing of best practices and effective strategies in order to better serve the people of the 

United States;

• facilitate planning for, and building of, institutional capacity in order to improve museum, 

library, and information services at the national, State, local, and regional levels; and 

international communications and cooperative networks; and

• support and enhance collaborative professional networks and consortia that use shared, 

meaningful, and actionable data analysis and modeling to advance museum, library, and 

information services and address community needs.

The National Museum of African American History and Culture Act (20 USC 80r-5) 

 

Under this Act, IMLS is authorized to carry out:

• a grant program with the purpose of improving operations, care of collections, and 

development of professional management at African American museums;

• a grant program with the purpose of providing internship and fellowship opportunities at 

African American museums;

• a scholarship program with the purpose of assisting individuals who are pursuing 

careers or carrying out studies in the arts, humanities, and sciences in the study of 

African American life, art, history, and culture.