Fiscal Year 2017 Appropriations Request 

to the United States Congress

Creating a Nation of Learners

February 2016
Contents

Contents . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . i

Message from the Director . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2

Summary of FY 2017 Appropriations Request . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4

IMLS Appropriations History, 2008—2017 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5

IMLS Vision and Goals . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6

Highlights of FY 2017 Budget Request . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7

Community Anchors to Catalysts: The Transformed Role of Museums and Libraries . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8

Building Capacity in Collections Care, Conservation, and Preservation Skills . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11

Libraries and Museums Creating Community-based Solutions for Veterans and Military Families.... 13 

Ongoing Strategic Initiatives . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19

Future of National Digital Capacity Building . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19

Strengthening Early Childhood-Family Learning . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21

Deepening STEM Learning through the Engagement of Experts . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22

Technical Assistance to Help Build Capacity among Small and Medium-Sized Museums . . . . . . . . . 23

Building Networks to Efficiently Impact the Museum Field . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 23

Exploratory Projects . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 24

Department of Education-OER Open Educational Resources . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 24

Gaming as Educational Tool for Youth . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 24

Reflecting the Changing Demographics of America’s Communities . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 25

Research and Modeling Activities . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 25

Professional Development for Museum and Library Staff . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 26

Building Digital Success . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 27

Budget Request – Details . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 27

Impact Assessment and Learning . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 27

Grants Program Overview As Structured by Appropriations Legislation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 28

National Leadership Grants – Libraries . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 29

National Leadership Grants – Museums . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 29

Sparks! Ignition Grants for Libraries and Museums.................................... 29

Laura Bush 21st Century Librarian Program . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 30

Native American/Native Hawaiian Library Services . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 30

Native American/Native Hawaiian Museum Services . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 30

Museum Grants for African American History and Culture . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 31

Museums for America . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 31

LSTA Grants to States . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 31

Program Descriptions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 35

Grants to States Distribution FY 2015 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 36

Table 2: State Allotments for FYs 2012–2017 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 37

Library Discretionary Programs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 39

National Leadership Grants – Libraries . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 39

Laura Bush 21st Century Librarian Program . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 40

Native American/Native Hawaiian Library Services . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 41

Museum Discretionary Grant Distribution, FY 2015 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 42

Museums for America . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 42

National Leadership Grants for Museums . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 43

CONTENTS
Native American/Native Hawaiian Museum Services . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 43

Museum Grants for African American History and Culture . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 43

IMLS Administration . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 44

Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 45

Human Capital Management . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 45

Financial and Budget Accountability . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 45

Grants and Acquisitions Management . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 46

Information Technology . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 46

General Operations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 47

Communications and Government Affairs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 47

Administrative Request by Object Class Code . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 48

Table 3: IMLS History of Administration Costs: FY 2012 – FY2017 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 48

FY 2017 Performance Plan . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 52

FY 2016-2017 Performance Improvement Model . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 52

Strategic Plan Update . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 54

Authorizing Framework . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 56

Library Services . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 56

LSTA Library Grants to States . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 57

Library Discretionary Grants . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 57

Museum Services . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 58

Museum Discretionary Grants . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 58

The National Museum of African American History and Culture Act . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 59

Policy Research, Analysis, Data Collection, and Dissemination . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 59

Interagency Collaboration . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 60

Federal Partnerships . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 60

CONTENTS
iv - Institute of Museum and Library Services

Intentionally blank.
Photo courtesy of Mystic Aquarium

Introduction: Creating a Nation of Learners
2 - Institute of Museum and Library Services

INTRODUCTION: CREATING A NATION OF LEARNERS

Dear Members of Congress:

It is a great pleasure to present the FY 2017 Institute of Museum and Library Services budget request.

IMLS has long held a vision of “a democratic society where communities and individuals thrive with broad 

public access to knowledge, heritage, and lifelong learning.” This budget capitalizes upon the agency’s 

role as a convener and a grant maker. We seek to catalyze conversations and develop ways to better leverage information and resources in order to strengthen our nation’s museum, library, and archive communities.

The FY 2017 budget request incorporates a rigorous approach of mixing investments with different 

degrees of risk, scope, and stage of concept development. There is a significant emphasis on several 

focused initiatives derived from prior IMLS grant investments, trends, and opportunities within the 

museum and library field, and work conducted by other funders and researchers. These initiatives meld 

three elements: examination of best practices in the field, convening the field to determine highest 

priority needs, and development of tools and skill-building resources:

• Community Anchors to Catalysts: The Transformed Role of Museums and Libraries;

• Building Capacity in Collections Care, Conservation, and Preservation Skills; 

• Libraries and Museums Creating Community-based Solutions for Veterans and Military Families.

Also in FY 2017, prior agency investments will be leveraged for further development or perhaps scaling 

more broadly. These include investments in early childhood learning, reaching underserved populations, 

and digital capacity building. New exploratory activities will seed the grantee “market” to see what avenues exist for IMLS to play a role in catalyzing new opportunities within local communities and learning 

networks. Exploratory activities include data modeling, open educational resources, and the use of new 

technologies to enhance Science, Technology, Engineering and Math (STEM) learning. The ongoing discretionary grants programs and Grants to States library funds provide the baseline support that is so essential 

to the field to continue serving and engaging their communities. 

IMLS is an outstanding steward of its federal funds. These FY 2017 investments will be essential to the 

field’s efforts to continue to serve and engage the public in a sustained manner.

Sincerely,

 Dr. Kathryn K. Matthew

 Director, IMLS
Photo courtesy of Chicago Public Library

FY 2017 Appropriations Request
4 - Institute of Museum and Library Services

FY 2017 APPROPRIATIONS REQUEST

Summary of Appropriations Request

The FY 2017 IMLS budget request is $230,000,000. This amount includes $228,593,000 for programs and 

administrative costs authorized by the Museum and Library Services Act (MLSA), which includes the Library 

Services and Technology Act (LSTA) and the Museum Services Act (MSA), and $1,407,000 for a grants 

program authorized by the African American History and Culture Act (AAHCA).

Library Services

IMLS requests $182,429,000 for the following library grant programs authorized by the LSTA.

• Grants to State Library Agencies 

• Native American and Native Hawaiian Library Services 

• Laura Bush 21st Century Librarian Program 

• National Leadership Grants for Libraries 

Museum Services 

IMLS requests $30,244,000 for the following museum grants and related programs.

• Museums for America 

• Native American/ Native Hawaiian Museum Services 

• National Leadership Grants for Museums

African American Museum Services

IMLS requests $1,407,000 for the grant program authorized by the African American History and Culture Act.

Research, Evaluation, and Data Collection

IMLS requests $1,920,000 to collect data, carry out research, and identify best practices of the nation’s 

libraries and museums and future opportunities.

Administration 

IMLS requests $14,000,000 for its administrative expenses. Funds support personnel compensation and 

benefits, rent and utilities, contractual services, communications, travel, printing, equipment and supplies, 

automated data processing, and other administrative services including the Institute’s overhead costs for 

research, evaluation, and data collection activities. 
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FY 2017 Appropriations 

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FY 2017 APPROPRIATIONS REQUEST FY 2017 APPROPRIATIONS REQUEST

Table 1: IMLS Appropriations History, 2008-2017 

(Budget Authority in 000’s)

Statutory Authority FY 2008 FY 2009 FY 2010 FY 2011 FY 2012 FY 2013 FY 2014 FY 2015 FY 2016

FY 2017 

Request

Library Services Technology Act (LSTA)

Grants to States 160,885 171,500 172,561 160,032 156,365 150,000 154,848 154,848 155,789 154,848

Native American 

Library Services 3,574 3,717 4,000 3,960 3,869 3,667 3,861 3,861 4,063 3,861

National Leadership:

Libraries 12,159 12,437 12,437 12,225 11,946 11,377 12,200 12,200 13,092 13,720

Laura Bush 21st

Century Librarian 23,345 24,525 24,525 12,818 12,524 10,000 10,000 10,000 10,500 10,000

SUBTOTAL, LSTA 199,963 212,179 213,523 189,035 184,704 175,044 180,909 180,909 182,944 182,429

Museum Services Act 

(MSA)

Museums for America 16,852 19,176 19,176 18,453 18,030 19,564 20,200 20,200 21,149 20,200

Museum Assessment 

Program 434 460 460

21st Century Museum 

Professionals 965 1,280 1,280 2,015 1,969

Conservation Project 

Support 2,724 3,052 3,052 2,675 2,613

Conservation 

Assessment Program 793 803 803

Native American/

Hawaiian Museum 

Services

895 945 975 947 926 877 924 924 972 924

National Leadership:

Museums 7,782 7,981 7,981 6,050 5,911 7,468 7,600 7,600 7,741 9,120

SUBTOTAL, MSA 30,445 33,697 33,727 30,140 29,449 27,909 28,724 28,724 29,862 30,244

African American 

History and Culture Act 

Museum Grants for 

African American 

History and Culture

827 1,310 1,485 1,443 1,410 1,336 1,407 1,407 1,481 1,407

Museum and Library 

Services Act (MLSA)

General Provisions

Research, Evaluation 

and Data Collection 1,903 1,886 1,787 1,820 1,820 1,713 1,920

Agency Wide

Administration 13,987 16,917 17,134  14,845 14,505 13,745 14,000 15,000 14,000 14,000

TOTAL, IMLS 

PROGRAMS AND 

ADMINISTRATION

245,222 264,103 265,869 237,393 231,954 219,821 226,860 227,860 230,000 230,000

Congressional 

Earmarks 18,285 10,737 16,382

TOTAL 263,507 274,840 282,251 237,393 231,954 219,821 226,860 227,860 230,000 230,000
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FY 2017 APPROPRIATIONS REQUEST

IMLS Vision and Goals

IMLS’s strategic plan, published in January 2012, sets out a vision for a democratic society where communities and individuals thrive with broad public access to knowledge, cultural heritage, and lifelong learning. The 

plan closely aligns with the Museum and Library Services Act, which was reauthorized in December 2010.

The plan establishes a clear framework for performance improvement that emphasizes evidence-based program 

development and evaluation for improving the delivery of library and museums services for all Americans. The 

complete IMLS Strategic Plan is available at https://www.imls.gov/about-us/strategic-plan.

Vision

A democratic society where communities and individuals thrive with broad public access to knowledge, 

heritage, and lifelong learning.

Mission

The mission of IMLS is to inspire libraries and museums to advance innovation, learning, and civic 

engagement. We provide leadership through research, policy development, and grant making.

Strategic Goals

Learning: IMLS places the learner at the center and supports engaging experiences in libraries and museums 

that prepare people to be full participants in their local communities and our global society.

Community: IMLS promotes museums and libraries as strong community anchors that enhance civic engagement, cultural opportunities, and economic vitality.

Content: IMLS supports exemplary stewardship of museum and library collections and promotes the use of 

technology to facilitate discovery of knowledge and cultural heritage.

Access: IMLS advises the President and Congress on plans, policies, and activities that sustain and increase 

public access to information and ideas.

Model Agency: IMLS achieves excellence in public management and performs as a model organization through 

strategic alignment of IMLS resources and prioritization of programmatic activities, maximizing value for the 

American public.
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FY 2017 Appropriations 

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FY 2017 APPROPRIATIONS REQUEST

Highlights of FY 2017 Budget Request

Fiscal Year 2017 Overview 

In its role as a federal agency, IMLS can develop best practices and identify ways that museums, libraries, 

and archives can improve their services and processes. IMLS can use its prior and current projects, its staff 

networks with professional communities, and its research capacity. IMLS can assess trends and provide 

recommendations and tools to the field. It can also capitalize on its and other organizations’ prior investments 

on what projects could be scaled-up. Finally because it can provide non-programmatic funding, IMLS can help 

address infrastructure and business process gaps in libraries and museums that will strengthen their capacity 

to offer impactful programs and services and increases their chances for sustainability. This is particularly 

important for small-to-medium sized institutions, which do not have the tools or skills to research such areas, 

nor the focused staff resources to obtain grants for these activities from other sources.

IMLS is developing mechanisms that museums and libraries can use to identify and adopt modern 

infrastructure and business practices. In particular, this proposed IMLS work will focus around several multiyear initiatives: Community Anchors to Catalysts: The Transformed Role of Museums and Libraries; Building 

Capacity in Collections Care, Conservation, and Preservation Skills; and Libraries and Museums Creating 

Community-based Solutions for Veterans and Military Families.

IMLS will enhance its ability to research, nurture, and assess projects at various stages of development. Staff 

will use formal project and business planning tools to assess the needs, opportunities, scope, risk, and impact 

of potential investments. Making smaller investments earlier in a project’s lifecycle to prove an approach and 

making those investments with the input of the field are critical to increased chances of success.

Another new organizational strategy for IMLS will be focusing on “Systemic Collective Impact” across four 

broad areas throughout the museum, library, and archives fields: 

• Become a role model as a dynamic, learning agency (e.g., consolidate learning from prior IMLS projects; 

create centralized resources to help the field contextualize IMLS findings; determine how to communicate and share findings; utilize project management and assessment tools internally to gather and act on 

information;a

 evaluate pilot projects for indicators of scalability and then use rigorous processes to support 

further development; engage with the field to prioritize and build consensus on gaps and potential solutions; use portfolio management to balance risk versus benefits for the field).

• Support shared services for the field (e.g., enhance digital platforms; expand regional association projects; 

provide programmatic and collections frameworks and tools; provide business and operational best 

practices and tools for staffs and boards; ensure that small-to-medium sized organizations can adopt these 

offerings).

• Foster and assess community impact of grantees’ projects on their audiences, partners, and donors (e.g., 

determine if the community is being served and if the grantees are responding to pivot points in their 

community and/or examine the market potential versus the current reach for the donor community).

a

Includes drawing upon new performance reporting requirements for discretionary grant programs to align grantee performance reporting 

with goals in the IMLS strategic plan, and restructure interim and final performance reporting formats to facilitate administrative review 

and information sharing (this was implemented in FY 2016 across discretionary and formula grant programs).
8 - Institute of Museum and Library Services

FY 2017 APPROPRIATIONS REQUEST

• Understand and strengthen the connections between successful projects’ sustainability and grantees’ 

organizational capacity (e.g., determine grantees’ needs for skill-building tools and frameworks; assess 

their partnerships and other indicators of sustainability; develop business models for programs and 

services; collaborate with foundation and corporation funders to understand which studies to undertake 

and variables to track). As a convener and grant maker, IMLS often works with the field (e.g., research 

and policy experts, community leaders, other agencies, and peer-funding organizations) to reach common 

understanding and alignment of activities. This will clarify where IMLS could add value and advance 

collective goals.

IMLS’s Systemic Collective Impact focus will have several long-lasting benefits to build knowledge for the 

field. By assessing IMLS investments, we will find new field-wide needs. By working with other entities who 

are engaged in similar funding, research, and evaluation efforts, we will be able to align our efforts for greater 

impact. By analyzing existing IMLS data sets in conjunction with others’ data, we will deepen the identification 

of trends and opportunities. IMLS will then provide mechanisms for sharing this information as well as use it 

as a foundation for advancing the field’s practices and defining future investments.

The Systemic Collective Impact approach will improve the field’s understanding of how to provide community 

learning opportunities that best respond to local needs. In addition, IMLS will support assessment of how 

funded projects can be sustained through enhanced organizational capacity and changed business approaches 

by grantees.

This section identifies the key investment areas in FY 2017, which align with agency and stakeholder-identified 

goals and with high priority areas of national interest. These initiatives aim to build capacity via locally-based 

investing that will ultimately yield systemic impact by researching and documenting other best practices in the 

field and adjacent sectors; developing project plans, pilots and evaluation; developing business, scaling, and 

dissemination plans that include communications strategies, implementation strategies, and final evaluations.

Each initiative may be comprised of multiple interdependent projects. We envision these as multi-year 

initiatives funded within FY17 National Leadership Grants for Museums and Libraries, and FY17 Laura Bush 

21st Century Librarian Grants Program.

Strategic Focus: Community Anchors to Catalysts: The Transformed Role of Museums and Libraries

Introduction: This initiative will develop approaches, tools, and training to support museums and libraries in 

becoming sustained and adaptive partners with their communities. The outcome is not a prescriptive approach 

but shows these organizations how to develop processes, provide a decision-making framework, and support 

needed skills development that will make them responsive to their communities’ needs.

Need: As community-centered organizations, libraries and museums want to deepen their engagement with 

their communities, but often do not know how to develop programs that meet quickly changing demographic or 

social issues and involve multiple stakeholders. Thus the skill sets of library and museum staffs must change 

to meet the demands of their communities.

Varying models exist to guide engagement with the community: such as creative place-making, structural 

equity (e.g., access to jobs and training), economic impact (e.g., job creation, tourism, retail), social wellbeing, 

and collaborative social networks. IMLS seeks to help the field to define a flexible framework and methodology, 
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FY 2017 Appropriations 

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FY 2017 APPROPRIATIONS REQUEST

based on the most applicable model(s), by which a library or museum can: assess its local community’s needs; 

identify existing services and resources offered by others; define the opportunities and role(s) for its own 

sustained engagements; and test/refine activities that will enable engagements.

Scope: This multi-year initiative will engage the library and museum fields and incorporate best practices and 

research through the following phases: 

 a) Research: identify different approaches and variables of successful and sustained community engagement including research findings, policy studies, and demographic and philanthropic trends; variables that 

define a “community landscape” including demographics, other service providers, local supporters (such as 

community foundations, United Ways, community development entities, community civic clubs, city or county 

government); baseline skills and gaps in library/museum staff ; and engaging key associations and other stakeholders.

 b) Validation of trends: validate the findings from phase (a) with the field (via Town Hall) to define a draft 

framework based on the most relevant community-engagement model(s) and identify questions to be answered 

via pilots.

 c) Methodology development: including decision-processes and agile tools to help staff to understand their 

local “community landscape” and prioritize the most important variables to factor into this dynamic methodology to help organizations identify the possible opportunities within their communities.

 d) Piloting: planning for pilots in selected communities (e.g., Promise Zones, foundation communities, the 

Department of Housing and Urban Development) along with signing agreements with entities to manage the 

piloting process/project plans and evaluate the pilots. Through the evaluation process of the pilot sites, skill 

gaps for museum/library staff will be identified and adjustments will be made to the methodology.

 e) Needs for staff skill-building: identified gaps from the pilots will inform the development of learning 

approaches, a curriculum, and a user interface/platform to underpin a network of blended training resources.

These would be a combination of online modules (self-paced and instructor-led), webinars, and facilitated inperson workshops.

 f) Documentation and preparation of a larger scale rollout plan: The documentation will provide resources 

such as background research and testing protocols, evaluation results, and refinements of the methodology.

It will also identify sources of data that individual organizations could access to refine their own “community 

landscape” as part of assessing opportunities. Recommendations for a rollout plan will include evaluation for 

the methodology’s scaling; refinement of the learning curriculum and situational learning progressions; determination of the best user interface for presenting the dynamic methodology; identification of a platform for 

hosting the learning modules; development of a communications plan; and proposed scenarios for sustainability for both the methodology and the learning resources.

Timing: This three-year initiative addresses several key needs of the library and museum fields: sharing best 

practices including community engagement, opportunity assessments, project planning, piloting and evaluating an idea, tracking to assess progress using appropriate metrics, and skills development for developing and 

evaluating informal learning activities. The proposed work will build upon various research studies and policy 
10 - Institute of Museum and Library Services

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reports (e.g., IMLS-LISCb, Pew Researchc, University of Pennsylvania-The Reinvestment Fundd), evaluations 

of funded projects in various communities (e.g., IMLS discretionary grant programs and LSTA Grants To 

States, other agencies, and foundations) and the field’s expressed desire to expand upon existing community-based work.

e

Outcomes: The success of this initiative will be measured by both its process and deliverables. It will 

include a background research report that summarizes the models and examples of museums and libraries 

engaging in community change and revitalization as well as any learning resources available today. Then 

in a facilitated Town Hall with relevant community development practitioners, policy experts, learning 

practitioners, learning management system experts, and library and museum professionals to prioritize 

needs. IMLS and potentially a partner and/or host institution will develop a roadmap and platform 

requirements for the framework/tools and learning modules, information about and results from the pilots, 

evaluation resources, examples of opportunity assessments and business plans, and updates on this 

initiative post-pilots. 

Impact: This initiative will provide approaches for how libraries and museums can improve their engagement 

with their communities. It will provide staff training and tools to assess community needs.

b

https://www.imls.gov/sites/default/files/publications/documents/museumslibrariesandcomprehensiveinitiatives.pdf c

http://www.pewinternet.org/2015/09/15/libraries-at-the-crossroads/ d

https://www.arts.gov/exploring-our-town/sites/arts.gov.exploring-our-town/files/SIAP%20CULTUREBLOCKS%20REPORT%20

DEC2013%20V1.pdf e

For example, ALA’s Libraries Transforming Communities: http://americanlibrariesmagazine.org/blogs/the-scoop/ala-selects-10-publiclibraries-for-community-engagement-training/
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Proposed Funding Allocation

Category Anticipated Allocation Purposes Results

At Requested 

Level

$5.0M total

$1.5M in National 

Leadership Grants – 

Libraries

$1.5M in Museums For 

America Grants 

$2.0M Laura Bush 21st 

Century Librarian Program

Library and museum 

professionals will be 

supported in their efforts 

to deeply engage with their 

communities by:

• accessing learning

modules to build skills and

knowledge so that they

can identify and assess

opportunities for developing

new community-based

engagements;

• applying decision-making

processes and tools to

identify the most promising

products or services

to explore with their

communities;

• using an iterative “product

development” approach to

scope, pilot, test, evaluate

and launch these new ideas.

A background research report 

that summarizes the models and 

examples of museums and 

libraries engaging in veterans 

services as well as any learning 

resources available today . 

• A facilitated Town Hall, informed

by the research that engages

veteran community development

practitioners, policy experts, learning

practitioners, learning management

system experts, and library and

museum professionals in prioritizing

needs that will underpin a decisionmaking methodology and skillbuilding recommendations.

• Development of a roadmap and

platform requirements for both the

methodology’s decision-making

framework/tools and associated

learning modules, information

about and results from the pilots,

evaluation resources, examples

of opportunity assessments and

business plans, and updates on this

initiative post-pilots.

• A recommended rollout plan

including communications and

metrics to be tracked to monitor

adoption and effectiveness of the

framework and associated tools and

professional resources.

• Support development of a

professional community of practice

using information about and results

from the pilots; evaluation resources;

examples of opportunity assessments

and business plans, and updates on

this initiative post-pilots.

Strategic Focus: Building Capacity in Collections Care, Conservation, and Preservation Skills

Introduction: America’s collections are for everyone, and they enlighten and inspire all of us each year in 

museums, libraries, and archives across the country. Their care and preservation are core responsibilities of 

our collecting institutions. Yet not every institution is able to meet these important obligations at the level they 

•
12 - Institute of Museum and Library Services

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should. Quite simply, time takes a toll, materials degrade if they are not in proper environments, collections 

outgrow their storage spaces, natural disasters threaten, and institutions cannot keep up with the ongoing 

training for staff in the most current collections care practices. The lack of resources at some small institutions 

or those with very wide ranging collections can overwhelm the ability to prioritize the artifacts requiring the 

greatest remediation. In addition, lack of skills relating to digitized and born-digital collections can create 

barriers to adopting these essential approaches to collections management and curation.

Need: A 2005 IMLS publication entitled A Public Trust at Risk: The Heritage Health Index Report, cited 

some sobering conditions within libraries, museums and archives: 190 million objects need conservation 

treatment; 65 percent of collecting institutions had experienced damage to collections; 80 percent of 

collecting institutions did not have emergency plans; 40 percent had no funds allocated in their budgets for 

preservation or conservation. A new report–10 years later–will tell the story of collections care today. This 

report will identify specific needs regarding caring for and managing digital collections and provide an updated 

picture of conservation needs, the status of emergency preparedness and disaster response, and professional 

collections care training for staff and volunteers. This will be augmented by research supported by IMLS and 

a Town Hall to drive the next set of recommendations on how libraries, museums, and archives secure current 

knowledge and resources about collections care, conservation, preservation, and incorporating digitization in 

their planning.

Scope: This multi-year initiative will support small-to-medium sized libraries, archives, and museums by 

strengthening and expanding a network of training resources that combine online modules (self-paced and 

guided), interactive webinars, and facilitated workshops (perhaps at regional conferences or meetings); and 

tools that are easily usable applications with templates to document collections information and condition. 

f

Offering online collections preservation and conservation resources and services is a natural extension of the 

IMLS digital approach. Many institutions first need updated conservation assessments and inventories before 

embarking on a digitization effort. Collections care skill-building for the field will be enhanced and facilitated 

through the proposed development of virtual continuing education and professional trainings. 

This work will engage expert advisors to develop conservation and preservation content, and learning 

management system managers and developers to determine how to present the training information. The 

eventual “consumers” will also be involved so that the material is relevant, accessed, and applied to their work 

environments. This work will not duplicate discrete existing resources offered by individual institutions and will 

build upon existing state-wide collections assessment support and networks of conservators.

Timing: The intersection of some sobering data, a national report, and the increasing need to preserve 

America’s most valued treasures make the timing of this initiative critical. The associated urgency is magnified 

by the lack of resources available for small–to-medium sized museums to support collections care. This is a 

three year effort.

f

Beginning in 2014, the Foundation of the American Institute for Conservation of Historic and Artistic Works (FAIC) was funded through 

a National Leadership Grant for Museums to operate a community of practice focused on providing information, training, and support for 

those who care for the nation’s collections. “Connecting to Collections Care” (http://www.connectingtocollections.org/) is a free, publicly 

accessible resource that features discussion forums, webinars on collections care topics identified as most needed through surveys and an 

advisory group, links to vital resources, and an archive of past webinars and associated course materials. This project’s user surveys are 

generating concrete recommendations for future improvements in content and in delivery of resources to end users, which IMLS will use to 

inform the work described here.
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Outcomes: The success of this initiative will be measured by both its process and deliverables. It will include a 

background report documenting existing learning resources and educational programs; a facilitated Town Hall 

to identify priorities; a training needs assessment; the development of pilot training modules (including virtual 

self-paced and instructor lead) tested with targeted consumers; and identification of networks and partners to 

support the rollout of the training resources.

Impact: Small-to-medium sized museums, libraries, and archives will be able to improve the care and 

preservation of the country’s collections.

Proposed Funding Allocation

Category Anticipated Allocation Purposes Results

At Requested 

Level

$2.0 M total:

$500K in National 

Leadership Grants – 

Libraries 

$500K in Museums for 

America Grants

$1.0 Laura Bush 21st 

Century Librarian Program

• Small-to-medium sized 

libraries and museums 

will be able to improve the 

care and preservation of 

the country’s collections 

by accessing a network 

of training resources that 

will include webinars, 

workshops, literature 

reviews, best practices, and 

needs assessment.

• Assessments will include 

tracking the adoption rate 

of the trainings by field 

and participant satisfaction 

post-training and with other 

services.

• A background report documenting 

existing learning resources and 

educational programs that builds on 

the updated Heritage Health Index 

report.

• A facilitated Town Hall, informed 

by the background report, with 

representatives from the library and 

museum fields to identify priorities.

• A training needs assessment to 

inform the development of pilot 

training modules (including virtual 

self-paced and instructor lead) 

tested with targeted consumers.

• Rollout plan utilizing the 

infrastructure and community 

created by previous IMLS funding 

in the Coalition for Learning in 

Libraries, Museum and Archives, and 

Connecting to Collections Care.

• Identification of partners to support 

the rollout of the training resources 

and related communities of practice.

• Synergy with other collections 

projects’ efforts.

Strategic Focus: Libraries and Museums Creating Community-based Solutions for Veterans and Military 

Families 

Introduction: As a result of examining library trends and discussions with various federal agencies and other 

key cooperators, IMLS has identified a new opportunity to support Military Families through Libraries and 

Museums and working with existing resource providers within local and national communities. While much of 

the initial work has occurred in public libraries, this initiative’s findings will be applicable to other institutions 

such as private and academic libraries, archives, and museums. This initiative aligns with other areas both 

within IMLS and other agencies, communities, and foundations: serving families, place-making, embedding 
14 - Institute of Museum and Library Services

FY 2017 APPROPRIATIONS REQUEST

ownership within local communities, and using technology to help job-seekers. In addition, this initiative 

builds upon IMLS’s investments in the LSTA Grants-to-States Programs and National Leadership Grants and 

several exemplary projects through the Museums for America program.

Need: Prior IMLS funding helped initiate some assessment of the needs of military service members and their 

families. IMLS funded a military community assessment in North Carolina that involved libraries that already 

had some experience with serving the military community. California libraries also serve as an interesting pilot 

in meeting the needs of veterans in innovative ways. As the home of two million veterans—more than any other 

state—California libraries also saw similar needs emerge for California veterans and with IMLS LSTA funding, 

the California State Library launched Veterans Connect @ the Library to address needs of returning service 

members and their families.

This project also helps veterans learn about state and federal education, employment, housing, health, 

disability, and other benefits that may be available to them. Working with the California Department of Veterans 

Affairs (CalVet), the project provides information on how to reintegrate California veterans into the California 

workforce and its communities in order to provide veterans with the same quality of life as other Americans.

Some libraries in the state have opened veteran resource centers staffed by trained volunteers, collections 

of books and other resources for veterans, websites with links to local resources for veterans, and access to 

computer equipment for extended periods in order to complete online applications and do research.

In the museum arena, using new media to extend the reach of exhibits and oral history projects is providing an 

important way to expand public knowledge of veterans’ stories and experiences. For example, through IMLS 

funding, a botanic garden is combining training, pre-vocational internships, and therapeutic horticulture to 

help 15 individuals transition into the workforce, while addressing their physical and emotional reintegration 

challenges in a supportive environment. As another example of this work, a major urban historical society 

is creating a large scale exhibit on the Vietnam War accompanied by public programs and discussions, 

educational curricula, workshops for students and teachers, and a multimedia resource website.

A more extensive study is needed to understand how to develop a successful veterans’ service program at 

libraries and museums. The veteran population is dynamic and shifting thus requiring a more interwoven and 

responsible approach.

g

 For example, from 2010 to 2040 the percentage of black, Asian and all other nonwhite veterans is projected to keep increasing, as is the percentage of female veterans. Demands for services 

are also increasing with more service-connected disabled veterans and the increasing number of veterans and 

their families using the Post-9/11 GI Bill Program to attend postsecondary institutions.

h

Scope: Through examining case studies and convening experts and practitioners, IMLS will create, test, 

and refine a framework for libraries and museums to prioritize their activities based on the local needs of 

military families. Such a framework could include employment resources, health issues, family re-engagement 

activities, access to free e-books, continuing education, or community volunteer activities. The framework 

will be broadly applicable for libraries or museums seeking to upgrade their current services or for those 

institutions who want to begin services to the military families in their communities.

g

http://www.va.gov/vetdata/Veteran_Population.asp h

http://www.va.gov/vetdata/docs/QuickFacts/Education_Beneficiaries.pdf
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FY 2017 Appropriations 

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The proposed project will show public libraries and museums how to serve the broad range of needs of 

individual veterans as well as their families. While particular components of the proposed project may not 

be novel or may already exist in some libraries, much greater effectiveness in serving this population will be 

achieved through an integrated approach.

Some examples of library and museum activities that support the above goals include:

• Building sustainable collaborations with local, state, and federal organizations to promote library and 

community information, services, and programs of interest to the military community (e.g., financial 

services, educational offering, free e-books access via military base libraries, companionship and outreach 

those in rehab or home-bound).

• Improving military family members’ access to information that is important to them (e.g., special children’s 

collections, offering family learning resources and take-home activities to build parents’ involvement in 

their children’s learning, partnering with museums, gardens, zoos).

• Providing a venue for military family members that allows re-connection with each other and with the 

broader community (e.g. through author and reading programs, social experiences, participatory oral history 

documentation, and volunteering, community gatherings inspired by documentary films, discussions of war 

experiences).

• Seeking ways to celebrate the service members and their families throughout the year using literature, 

poetry, film-making workshops, and new media.

• Connecting veterans to community volunteer opportunities where they can leverage their skills (e.g., 

leadership skills to help at-risk youth or other veterans experiencing difficulties; engineering and 

mathematical skills through affiliation with STEM programs at libraries and museums; cross-generational 

mentoring).

• Helping veterans find jobs and/or improve skills, leveraging existing resources in the federal, state, local 

and private sectors already provided by libraries and more specialized services that address the difficulties 

that veterans encounter in the job search process within the civilian marketplace.

Timing: The learning and jobs resources available through libraries and museums, existing efforts underway 

to serve veterans by these institutions, and new undertakings by the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) 

make this the opportune time for this three year initiative. More specifically:

• Libraries provide a myriad of information-based services. The large majority of public libraries provide 

programs that support people in applying for jobs (73%), online job opportunity resources (68%), and access to online business information resources (48%).

i

 Given this history and the number of public libraries 

(16,536),j the public library is a natural place to serve military service members and their families.

• Museums also can support veterans and their families. From military-themed exhibitions to programs 

designed to assist servicemen and women transition into civilian life, museums harness their resources 

to honor and serve America’s veterans. Engaging exhibitions explore the art, science, technology, and 

legacies of America’s wars, making the experiences understandable to audiences of all ages. Filmmaking 

workshops, skills training, internships, therapeutic horticulture, and arts therapy help individuals transition 

into the workforce while addressing the physical and emotional challenges inherent in reintegrating into 

their communities.

i

Digital Inclusion Survey 2014, University of Maryland and the American Library Association, sponsored by the Institute of Museum and 

Library Services, http://www.ala.org/research/digitalinclusion. j

http://www.ala.org/tools/libfactsheets/alalibraryfactsheet01
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FY 2017 APPROPRIATIONS REQUEST

• More than 2,200 museums nationally participate in the Blue Star Museums initiative, which offers 

free admission to all active-duty and reserve personnel and their families. This effort served more than 

700,000 people in 2014, with many other museums offering military discounts or free admission.

k

 Across 

the United States, 422 museums focus exclusively on military themes in their collections, exhibitions and 

programs and an additional 24 self-identify as veterans museums.

l

• The VA is piloting a new model to engage with existing community veterans groups to improve outcomes 

for service members, veterans, and their families. In areas where there are no existing community veterans groups, VA is facilitating the development of veteran-focused community networks, using a model 

called MyVA Communities.

m This model enables veteran advocates, service providers, veterans, and other 

stakeholders to have a voice in identifying their community goals and work to improve service delivery for 

veterans, service members, and their families. We proposed to include libraries and museums as anchor 

institutions for such service and community opportunities.

MyVA Communities and this proposed IMLS initiative share stakeholders: veteran service organizations; 

benefits providers; education service providers/organizations; employment service providers; financial service 

providers; housing services; legal services; mentoring and volunteer non-profit organizations; and government 

representatives. The lens of this initiative is how to use libraries and museums to bring services and communities together and in particular, where libraries and museums already have experience and capacity to create 

veterans programs, networks where MyVA Communities is launching, and those states experiencing the greatest 

increases in veterans’ population.

n

Outcomes: This initiative will research and understand how libraries are currently serving the military 

community and to develop approaches to enhance and expand that service through:

• Conducting a national research study and inventory of existing assets.

• Creating a national advisory board and conducting a national convening.

• Developing a successful national pilot program that can guide libraries and museums who want to develop 

their own veterans’ services plan.

• A validated plan for a national rollout to the broader library community, in both rural and urban settings.

• A roadmap for development of additional technologies and integrated services working with VA and other 

key providers.

We will seek additional private funds so that the pilot phase could include placement of AmeriCorps members 

in libraries or museums to design and/or implement veterans’ programming. For example, AmeriCorps members 

serving through California’s Veterans Resource Corps are placed in local libraries where they provide individual 

support to veterans—connecting them to critical resources like mental and physical health benefits, family 

assistance programs, and educational and employment opportunities to aid their smooth transition to civilian 

life. Similarly, the Delaware Division of Libraries sponsors an AmeriCorps VISTA program to provide educational 

outreach regarding job center services to veterans, promote employment opportunities for veterans, and serve 

as a liaison between job centers and veterans affairs organizations.

k

See American Association of Museums http://www.aam-us.org/about-museums/museum-facts; and Blue Star Museums https://www.arts.

gov/national/blue-star-museums/frequently-asked-questions

l

http://www.military.com/Resources/ResourceSubmittedFileView?file=museums_museum_guide.htm mhttp://www.va.gov/icbc/myVA.asp n

http://www.va.gov/vetdata/docs/Maps/VetPop14_PercentChange.pdf
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Impact: IMLS will fund approximately ten pilot sites at locations that include a mix of rural and urban libraries 

and museums. The pilots will include testing mechanisms to overcome any barriers to veterans accessing 

technology services offered by local libraries or museums. IMLS will assist the pilot libraries and museums to 

find additional partners to help identify potential solutions and to improve technological resources.

Upon completion of the pilot, IMLS will develop materials that libraries and museums and their staff can 

use for how to improve their technology, information and services for veterans. A roadmap for enhanced 

technologies, improved access to information, and further integration of services will also be developed.

Resources for library and museum professional staff will be hosted either on IMLS’s website or that of a 

partner.
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FY 2017 APPROPRIATIONS REQUEST

Proposed Funding Allocation

Category Anticipated Allocation Purposes Results

At Requested 

Level

$4.5 M total:

$1.0M in National 

Leadership Grants – 

Libraries, 

$1.0 M in Museums for 

America Grants

$2.5 M Laura Bush 21st 

Century Librarian Program

• Create, test, and refine 

a framework for libraries 

and museums to prioritize 

their activities based on 

the local needs of military 

families. Such a framework 

could include employment 

resources, health issues, 

family re-engagement 

activities, access to free 

e-books, continuing 

education, or community 

volunteer activities.

• The framework will be 

broadly applicable for 

those institutions seeking 

to upgrade their current 

services or who want to 

begin targeted services to 

the military families in their 

communities.

• The proposed project will 

allow a local library or 

museum to play a role in 

assessing how best to serve 

the broad range of needs of 

individual veterans as well 

as their families.

• Leverage networks and 

resources from other 

agencies and NGOs who 

currently provide services to 

veterans and their families.

• A background research report 

that summarizes the models and 

examples of museums and libraries 

engaging in veterans services as well 

as any learning resources available 

today.

• A facilitated Town Hall, informed 

by the research that engages 

veteran community development 

practitioners, policy experts, learning 

practitioners, learning management 

system experts, and library and 

museum professionals in prioritizing 

needs that will underpin a decisionmaking methodology and skillbuilding recommendations.

• Development of a roadmap and 

platform requirements for both the 

methodology’s decision-making 

framework/tools and associated 

learning modules, information 

about and results from the pilots, 

evaluation resources, examples 

of opportunity assessments and 

business plans, and updates on this 

initiative post-pilots. 

• A recommended rollout plan 

including communications and 

metrics to be tracked to monitor 

adoption and effectiveness of the 

framework and associated tools and 

professional resources.

• Support development of a 

professional community of practice 

using information about and results 

from the pilots; evaluation resources; 

examples of opportunity assessments 

and business plans, and updates on 

this initiative post-pilots. 
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FY 2017 Appropriations 

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Ongoing Strategic Initiatives

Deepening Existing Projects 

The processes encompassed by each of these projects will include evaluation, scope adjustment, pilot scaling, 

and business plan creation.

1. Future of National Digital Capacity Building

Introduction: Libraries’ capacity to meet community information needs in the digital age has been enabled to a 

great extent by the over $1 billion dollars in LSTA programmatic and discretionary funding since 1996. These 

funds have supported development of digital library infrastructure, content and services.

IMLS plays a key role in continuing to develop national digital capacity. Several factors are driving the 

continued need for this type of work: 

• the growing importance of community archiving needs, both urban and rural, including repository 

development for underserved and diverse immigrant communities in service of community memory 

preservation;

• building digital preservation skills for library, museum, and archive professionals so that they can leverage 

current technologies to achieve their preservation and educational missions; 

• the increasing pressures being put on academic libraries, archives, and museums to support data curation 

and open scholarship, including the creation of high-performance computing and data-storage platforms; 

and

• the large-scale task of assessing and preparing analog collections of all formats for digitization.

The National Digital Platform (NDP) priority was introduced in FY 2015. It replaced the “Advancing Digital 

Resources” priority which ran for over 15 years and was extremely broad in scope. NDP was created as a 

means to focus agency investment in digital infrastructure, services, and education on portfolios of the most 

promising initiatives with potential to be widely shared, rather than on a wide range of unrelated and not 

necessarily replicable technology development projects. This new, two-year initiative brings more focus to the 

area using a strategic national needs assessment process, and includes museums as well as libraries (NDP was 

previously limited to libraries).

As institutions increasingly use digital infrastructure to provide access to digital content and resources, there 

are more opportunities for collaboration around the tools and services that they use. It is possible for each 

library, museum, and archive in the country to leverage and benefit from the work of others in shared digital 

services, systems, and infrastructure. In addition, new forms of data result from evolving technologies such as 

3-D scanning that need to be planned for within data architecture of both collections management systems 

and digital infrastructure.
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FY 2017 APPROPRIATIONS REQUEST

IMLS funding aims to bridge gaps between disparate pieces of the existing digital infrastructure and creates 

increased efficiencies, cost savings, access, and services. To date, IMLS has funded the national digital platform through the National Leadership Grants for Libraries program and the Laura Bush 21st Century Librarian 

Program. We are working with private foundations and funders to maximize the impact of our prior and current 

federal investments.

o

Need: This ongoing initiative will build on prior IMLS investments. We now need to explore how discretionary 

funds supporting infrastructure development, particularly in networking and data storage and preservation 

and access, can help states make the best use of the funds they receive through the programmatically-funded 

LSTA Grants to States program. IMLS intends to conduct a situation assessment of high potential investment 

opportunities that will further expand the ability of libraries and museums to share information to better serve 

their communities.

Outcomes: Products will include issuing a background report consisting of an examination of collections, 

programmatic, and operational needs from the field; an environmental scan of other platforms and applications 

that could offer interface opportunities and a present identified gaps and opportunities in the current platform; 

convening a Town Hall representing current and potential users as well as technical experts to identify and 

reach agreement on potential priorities and areas that may need further investigation; and response to those 

identified needs and opportunities via a map of future functionalities, a high-level feature road map, and a 

business plan. 

Impact: We will establish mechanisms to evaluate the impact on communities and users, as well as libraries, 

museums, and archives served by or participating in the national digital platform; the amount and type of 

content available to and accessed by the people across the country, the type and number of services available, 

as well as the number and geographical location of users served, and the adoption rate by target markets; 

user satisfaction with the content and services used by educators. This information will be used to refine the 

investments in the platform and other related projects.

o

Some examples of projects funded in 2015 include: 

 - the Open eBooks initiative, which adds to existing efforts to help children develop a love of reading and discovery by making e-books 

available to children and youth from low-income and military families;

 - the Digital Public Library of America: IMLS, with private funders including the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation, the Andrew W. Mellon 

Foundation and the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation, has funded an emerging network of Service Hubs, which provide digital 

services to over 1600 libraries and museums across the country. Recent IMLS investments are aimed at piloting Service Hubs in new 

subjects and regions, and will be scaled up with future investment to reach more institutions through existing Hubs by managing audio/

visual content, digital preservation and crowdsourcing services.

 - the National Digital Stewardship Residency Program: through a partnership with the Library of Congress and a series of competitive 

grants IMLS has established an approach to running digital stewardship residency programs in several East Coast cities. With the 

culmination in 2015 of a report detailing the most critical components of these programs, IMLS will now leverage this learning to scale 

up programs around the country. These programs have been highly effective in training librarians to take on digital leadership roles in the 

field.

 - Collecting, Preserving and Providing Access to Born Digital Materials: Through a diverse portfolio of investments, IMLS is developing 

solutions to ensuring long-term access to digital content. Investments are focused on preserving software, online content, and email.

Several breakthroughs around emulation and virtualization of software offer exciting possibilities for providing access to content and are 

targets for further investment.
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2. Strengthening Early Childhood-Family Learning

Introduction: Many institutions do not have the staff to review, pilot, and test the best approaches to engaging families with young children. Nonetheless, they have a wealth of objects, stories and local context to offer 

in support of young children’s development. The frameworks and tools developed under this initiative will be 

piloted with institutions and then monitored and fine-tuned once launched so they reflect new research findings and feedback from the field.

Libraries and museums reach millions of children each year. IMLS seeks projects that that help libraries and 

museums more effectively engage in early learning strategies at the community, state, and national levels.

Bringing families and caregivers together is an important part of maintaining community cohesiveness and 

engaging parents with their children’s learning benefits children’s development. In 2014 and 2015, the agency 

prioritized early childhood projects.

p

 This proposed multi-year initiative builds on several key IMLS-funded 

projects and weaves those successes with broader best practices.

Need: This multi-year initiative continues IMLS’s investments in early childhood projects in both libraries and 

museums. Small-to-medium sized libraries, museums, and archives can benefit from using tested approaches 

to developing programs for young children and their caregivers. There is also a need to consolidate and assess 

the many research findings from academia and disseminate them in a digestible and applicable format to the 

field. Early childhood learning can occur in any setting and this initiative will focus on supporting institutions 

to leverage the varying stories, objects, disciplines, and cultural context within their communities.

Outcomes: IMLS will evaluate the impact of adult, family, and caregiver engagement on early learning and 

skills development in children to guide future investments in promising strategies and outcomes. The ultimate 

goal is to create an easily accessible platform, tailored to the context and needs of small-to-medium sized 

institutions, or those new to offering early childhood programs in informal settings. This initiative will support 

the use of existing library and museum resources and encourage collaboration within communities. An 

important part of this initiative is understanding how to get museum and library professionals and “consumers” 

to use and adopt these new resources and apply them to their local organizational and community contexts.

The ultimate success of this initiative will be assessed through the creation of a staggered series of pilots 

and evaluation with selected museum and library “consumers” to determine ease of applying the frameworks 

and tools. In addition, it will include a successful communications plan that facilitates roll-out, high levels 

of adoption, and ease of on-boarding. Evaluation will include assessing changes in attitudes towards and 

understanding of STEM concepts and engagement of families during their experiences at the libraries and 

museums.

p

In 2015, IMLS funded a year-long project, Prescription for Success, to support collaborations between libraries, museums, and Reach Out 

and Read (ROAR) program sites. The project helps more families benefit from museum and library services that foster literacy development 

in young children. We will assess the impact of library and museum use by families with small children and explore new ways that ROAR 

doctors and their staffs can connect families to museum and library literacy services. ROAR, Let’s Move! Museums and Gardens, and other 

IMLS-supported projects are addressing issues of health and wellness in museums and libraries by helping families to understand how 

nutrition, play, and sleep promote healthy and productive lifestyles.

IMLS also supported Mind in the Making in the creation of the Seven Essential Life Skills Modules for Museums and Libraries. Life Skills 

all involve what researchers call “executive functions of the brain”—functions that take place in the prefrontal cortex and that weave 

together social, emotional, and intellectual capacities, enabling us to use what we know in pursuit of our goals. By engaging families and 

professionals in an exploration of their own life skills, the program aims to empower caregivers to support early development of all kinds of 

skills and literacies in the children in their care.

IMLS continues to support Museums for All, a program that enables low-income families to visit participating museums for a minimal fee.
22 - Institute of Museum and Library Services

FY 2017 APPROPRIATIONS REQUEST

Impact: IMLS will gather directional research findings, measure the number and types of pilots participating 

in the initiative, determine evidence of sustainability within each participating organization, and monitor 

indicators of successful scaling into the field. This will include tracking how well small-to-medium sized 

libraries and museums use these new approaches in development of their programs for young children and 

their families. IMLS will also support research to determine if these pilots result in improved inquiry skills and 

enhanced attitudes toward science in children and increased engagement of families during their experiences 

at libraries and museums.

3. Deepening STEM Learning through the Engagement of Experts

Introduction: Museums and libraries are leaders in participatory learning. They leverage their resources, collections, and public trust to strengthen community-based learning, particularly for critical thinking, problemsolving, collaboration, and engagement in STEM. Learning spaces in museums and libraries enable visitors to 

pursue their own interests and to collaborate and share. They also provide an environment where the public 

can engage in science through discovery activities and dialoging with practicing scientists and other technical 

experts. STEM has been a major funding priority for IMLS since 2012 and plays a unique role in ensuring that 

museums and libraries are integrated in to STEM ecosystems.

There is an opportunity to further define best practice models about how scientific and technical experts—

whether medical researchers and road engineers or art conservators and dental hygienists—can successfully 

engage young children and their families in STEM activities and inspire interest in STEM-based careers. Every 

community has those experts to draw upon to enhance their informal educational STEM efforts

Scope: Many libraries and museums do not have the staff to review, pilot, and test the best approaches to 

engaging local scientists, technicians, researchers, and engineers with their audiences. They, nonetheless, have 

a wealth of objects, stories, and eager “experts” within their communities to deploy in STEM programming.

This three-year initiative will build upon and continually evaluate proven projects and research funded not only 

by IMLS but other agencies, universities, corporations, and private foundations. It will synthesize the work of 

these organizations in order to give libraries and museums tools to meld the storytelling of “STEM experts” 

with objects, documents, and literature. 

Need: There has been much interest in the role of scientific and technical experts in fostering STEM 

engagement to increase content knowledge and process skills in children. Many funders (e.g., IMLS, the 

National Science Foundation, corporate foundations) have supported efforts to have their employees participate 

in science fairs, teacher training and to roll out more formal efforts (such as Portal to the Public; Pushing 

the Limits: Making Sense of Science; Makerspaces). However the specific importance of the stories and 

narratives of “experts” within informal learning environments has not been formally researched. This impacts 

an institution’s ability to know when and where to place an “expert” within a gallery, library, or educational 

program for maximum impact, and how to draw upon the different types of stories of such an “expert.” 

Outcomes: The success of this research-to-scaling initiative will be measured by an increase in the number of 

family visitors who expressed increased interest in scientific endeavors. IMLS will support a research partner 

or partners in the development of a research plan to test the selected approach at a limited number of libraries 

and museums. Based on design-based research results, IMLS will support piloting with selected museum 
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FY 2017 Appropriations 

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and library professional “consumers”; and based on engagement with the advisors, develop a user’s manual 

containing both the STEM learning frameworks and tools and practical tips to help others adapt the research 

results. Other outcomes will include conducting webinars and workshops to help “consumers” implement 

the findings; development of a communications plan to assist with keeping the field informed about the 

initiative and creating a summary of findings to present at national and regional conferences. IMLS will also 

support creation of a virtual assessment and coaching program. A host institution will maintain a website as a 

repository of frameworks, best practices, available coaches, and resources, and IMLS will build partnerships 

with other federal agencies, corporations, and foundations to continue to monitor trends in this arena.

Impact: IMLS will measure the number of pilots and modules, and the adoption rate by field and by type of 

institution. In addition metrics will be collected including “consumer” satisfaction with the tools and services 

and their ability to utilize them successfully within their organizations. We will also measure the persistence 

of partnerships and collaboration to monitor investments among funders and between agencies. IMLS will also 

develop measures to see if these pilots result in positive impact on children and their families during the pilot 

activities.

q

4. Technical Assistance to Help Build Capacity among Small and Medium-Sized Museums

Museum Assessment Program: For the past twenty-five years this program has strengthened museums in the 

areas of governance, collections, and community engagement.

Conservation Assessment Program: IMLS will work with a cooperator to implement a newly re-conceptualized 

program to help improve the care of the nation’s collections.

5. Building Networks to Efficiently Impact the Museum Field

IMLS seeks to invest in projects that are carefully piloted and designed to achieve broad reach into museums 

nationally. Efforts include expanding on work stemming from an FY 2015 national convening of state and 

regional museum associations. Building on initial collaborative work coordinated by the California Association 

of Museums, IMLS will evaluate future investments in support of state museum associations’ collaborations.

IMLS will help to develop a business model to increase efficiencies and impact in the field from these state 

associations. These institutions provide much-needed grassroots training for both paid and volunteer museum 

professionals. Outcomes will include an online platform to support communications and collaboration as well 

as an online toolkit to support effective management and administrative decision-making.

In addition, the pilot phase of Museums for All will soon be concluded and evaluated for further scaling. This 

program ensures that every family and child has access to high-quality museum experiences. Participating 

museums will offer free or reduced-price admission for up to four individuals in a group upon presentation of 

an EBT (electronic benefit transfer) card.

r

q

Evaluation will include observations and interviews to assess: increased engagement by the child with the expert, increased content 

understanding, increased participation by parents, and positive affinity with “expert.”

r

https://www.imls.gov/news-events/upnext-blog/2015/11/join-museums-all-initiative. 
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FY 2017 APPROPRIATIONS REQUEST

IMLS is investing in other projects that will provide the foundation for broader field-wide impact for museums 

(e.g., business plans for museum cafes, visitor experience data collaborative for science centers, and data 

collection tools for monitoring animal behavior/health in zoos).

Exploratory Projects

The processes encompassed by each of these projects will include research, scope development including 

key stakeholders’ input, and creating project plans. These projects will lay the groundwork for possible future 

development and scale-up, based on evaluation results.

IMLS is adopting a portfolio management approach. New ideas often arise from trends observed in the open 

grants programs. At other times, a partner who also serves libraries and museums may be undertaking activities 

that could be deepened.

1. Department of Education Open Educational Resources (OER) 

From K-12 to higher education, from the academy to community colleges, and across formal and informal 

education, creators of educational content are increasingly openly licensing that content. There is already 

a wealth of open educational resources available online. As more federal agencies follow the Department of 

Labor’s lead by requiring open licensing for educational content created with federal funding, this body of 

content will continue to expand. Open educational resources provide substantial learning opportunities for 

people across the country and around the world.

Due to the quantity, diversity, and complexity of this content, there are significant challenges related to 

curating this content and connecting individual learners with the right educational materials for their needs 

and interests. Specifically, it is difficult for learners to find relevant materials, to discern between high and low 

quality resources, and to know what kinds of resources are available.

Libraries and museums have extensive expertise in helping learners find relevant information and thus can 

help ensure that investments in open educational resources have the largest impact possible. We will monitor 

increases in requirements for open licensed content; curation activities related to OER materials; and the 

availability (number/type/publisher) of curated high-quality open educational resources.

This work builds on a collaboration to create an Open Educational Resources playbook between the IMLS, 

the Department of Education, and the State Department and the IMLS National Digital Platform investments.

IMLS will collaborate with the Department of Education to make learning materials, data, and educational 

opportunities available without restrictions, access barriers, or exclusive proprietary systems. There is a great 

need in the next years to train libraries and museums to work more closely with schools to provide access to 

high-quality curated learning resources that support classroom learning, including freely accessible, openlylicensed materials that can be constantly updated and adjusted to meet students’ needs.

2. Gaming as an Educational Tool for Youth

Popular media like film, television, and graphic novels have long been used to engage children and teens.
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FY 2017 Appropriations 

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Museums and libraries can serve as ideal venues to empower youth to engage with educational media firsthand. Creative game design is a learning pathway that involves systems thinking, creative problem solving, art 

and aesthetics, writing and storytelling, user experience design, communications, collaboration, and cultural 

literacy. It also teaches real world skills in computer sciences to help fill the pipeline in those career areas.

This interest area builds on IMLS’s history of helping libraries and museums to deliver 21st Century skills, 

including work with at risk youth and through making.

s

 IMLS funded $23 million in 140 STEM related projects in FY 2013-2014. Activities focused on STEM learning for at-risk youth remained a priority for FY 2015 

discretionary funding.

t

 In FY 2016 the agency will continue its investments in STEM-focused efforts. In FY 

2017, we will work with the field and other learning-focused entities (e.g., corporations, learning communitiesu

, and researchers) in order to identify the role(s) for gaming within museums and libraries. An important 

outcome will be identifying collaborators, opportunities, and a direction for preliminary research and piloting.

3. Reflecting the Changing Demographics of America’s Communities 

a. IMLS will continue to work to align the goals of our grant program with the Association of African American 

Museums and state networks of African American Museums. We will evaluate the findings of a 2016 grant to 

support capacity building in this community and to develop strategic plans for integrating the work of these 

national and state organizations.

b. Both the Latino and the Asian communities within the U.S. have grown and will continue to do so. In FY 

2017, IMLS will expand exploratory meetings with leaders in these communities to understand how to improve 

outreach and to help them access our resources and grants. IMLS investments can help both immigrants and 

at-risk youth gain marketable skills, discover their future potential, and build confidence and coping tools 

through language and literacy programs and hands-on learning and skills acquisition.

4. Research and Modeling Activities

New activities starting in FY 2017 will include:

a. Audience/Business Modeling - IMLS will work to provide a framework for strategic decision-making and 

investing that will be available to museum and library boards and staff. This effort will draw on the Museum 

Universe Data File work to date and additional data sets.

s

https://www.imls.gov/assets/1/AssetManager/Makerspaces.pdf

t

For example, in partnership with the Children’s Museum of Pittsburgh, IMLS will launch a freely accessible toolkit for all museums and 

libraries to use to create makerspaces and programs.

https://www.imls.gov/news-events/news-releases/imls-and-children’s-museum-pittsburgh-partner-makerspaces-project?CategoryId=1&F_

All=y

https://www.imls.gov/news-events/news-releases/museums-and-libraries-middle-maker-movement

u

IMLS and the National Writing Project support the Learning Labs Community of Practice, a community of educators committed to 

adapting, extending, and contributing to the curricula, program models, digital tools, and other prototypes tested/developed in YOUmedia/

Learning Labs, a collaboration of IMLS and the MacArthur Foundation.
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FY 2017 APPROPRIATIONS REQUEST

b. Impact and Performance Evaluation - IMLS will develop an internal set of indicators to track the impact 

of grant-making investments. IMLS will research similar approaches at private and corporate foundations as 

well as at other state and federal agencies. The emphasis will be on evaluation to understand and strengthen 

program effectiveness. Under certain circumstances, IMLS may also fund statistical or quasi-statisticalv 

evaluations to test causal effects in pilot projects, innovations, or new delivery models to determine cause and 

effect, scalability, or feasibility.

In addition, the agency will develop an internal set of indicators to track the effectiveness of the IMLS 

grant-making process. Factors such as number of new applicants, geographic spread of applicants, ease of 

application process, and satisfaction with proposal feedback received will be tracked and used to improve the 

application process for the museum/library professional community.

IMLS will also try to measure outcomes from its funded grants in order to disseminate concrete learnings to 

the field and to hone its grant-making strategy. In FY 2017, working with the field and also by researching 

other best practices in grant-making, the agency will create a consistent set of measureable, meaningful, and 

actionable evaluation indicators for every grantee.

w There will very likely be grant program-specific evaluation 

indicators that are more appropriate to sub-fields (e.g., rural museums versus university libraries, or collections 

conservation versus outreach programs). We will explore building this evaluation process into each award so 

there are resources for IMLS to evaluate the success of grants using outside evaluation consultants. In addition, we would provide a set of peer recommended and experienced evaluators (both independent firms and 

university researchers) who could be selected by a grantee.

5. Professional Development for Museum and Library Staff

In FY 2017, IMLS will support professional development for librarians and museum professionals. One 

way is through the three previously discussed FY 2017 initiatives— Community Anchors to Catalysts: The 

Transformed Role of Museums and Libraries; Building Capacity in Collections Care, Conservation, and 

Preservation Skills; and Libraries and Museums Creating Community-based Solutions for Veterans and 

Military Families—which address skills gaps in content knowledge and process expertise. IMLS’s professional 

development philosophy is to provide frameworks, methods, and tools to allow library and museum 

professionals to address their institutional needs.

Another source of information will be the “Coalition to Advance Learning in Archives, Libraries and Museums” 

which is developing and sharing standards for continuing education. IMLS will use these standards to fund 

grantees that create innovative training or develop specific training modules.

Finally, IMLS will examine and benchmark ways to increase diversity in the library and museum fields. Several 

efforts are underway in sub-disciplines of the field.

x

 The agency wants to understand where future areas of opportunity exist; for example, how to make high school and community college students aware of career opportunities in libraries and museums and support their enrollment and retention.

v

Small sample sizes may be unable to draw statistically valid conclusions but may provide directional or trend insights for managers. wThe agency will build upon the shift from project-level assessment to program-level performance assessment implemented in FY 2016, 

when performance reporting requirements were modified for all formula and discretionary grant programs. x

For example, the Association of Research Libraries’ diversity recruitment efforts http://www.arl.org/news/arl-news/3706-arl-mla-diversityand-inclusion-initiative-2015-2017-fellows-chosen#.VqWL4FJ7mOo and the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation study on art museum 

leadership https://mellon.org/news-publications/articles/Diversity-American-Art-Museums/
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6. Building Digital Success 

In FY 2017, IMLS will continue to encourage broadband adoption and digital literacy training. More than 

60 million people lack access to broadband, and many more lack basic digital literacy. While cost is a major 

barrier to adoption of broadband, it is not the only barrier. Basic digital literacy such as how to use a computer 

or conduct research is also important. Digital literacy training programs are in high demand and libraries are 

the place many learn these skills.

High-speed broadband connectivity is a critical utility for an educated and successful workforce. IMLS 

is particularly interested in supporting traditionally underserved communities that often lack high-speed 

broadband connections. IMLS is funding development of a network assessment toolkit and technical assistance 

program for rural and tribal libraries. These libraries provide critical public access to computers and the 

Internet with support and training from professionals, but many have inadequate connectivity and Wi-Fi. The 

toolkit will help libraries configure, modify, and manage their networks. After piloting in 30 rural and tribal 

communities, IMLS will consider an expanded roll-out for FY 2017.

IMLS has also awarded a grant to the Chief Officers of State Library Agencies to develop best practices and 

expand technical support for E-rate-funded public library Wi-Fi and connectivity expansions. This grant will 

support libraries in assessing connectivity needs, procuring efficient and competitive broadband services, and 

completing E-rate applications. This initiative will be implemented in partnership with the American Library 

Association’s E-rate Task Force to ensure that library information services and free public access points are 

available to all.

Budget Request - Details 

Impact Assessment and Learning 

FY 2017 Budget Request: $1,920,000

IMLS requests $1,920,000 to collect data, carry out research, and identify best practices in cooperation with 

the nation’s libraries and museums. The Museum and Library Service Act authorizes the Director of IMLS 

to annually conduct policy research, analysis, and data collection with ongoing collaboration (as determined 

appropriate by the Director), and in consultation, with (1) state library administrative agencies; (2) national, 

state, and regional library and museum organizations; (3) other relevant agencies and organizations.

Planning, Research, Evaluation, and Data Collection

IMLS conducts studies of our programs and their populations, including evaluations of existing programs, 

assessments of innovative approaches to museum and library services, research syntheses, and descriptive 

and exploratory studies. IMLS also manages a federal statistical program, which identifies national service 

trends; public use of museum, library, and information services; and the impact and effectiveness of museum, 

library, and information services. The statistical program provides reliable and objective data in a wide variety 

of formats used by scholars and researchers to inform policy decisions. A recent example was the Federal 

Communications Commission’s use of the Public Library Survey to analyze the potential impact of proposed 

E-Rate Modernization changes.
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FY 2017 APPROPRIATIONS REQUEST

FY 2017 projects will include:

 i. The Public Library Survey provides information on key metrics of library health and services across the 

United States and the outlying territories. The survey tracked trends in libraries. In addition to the longstanding 

library data collections efforts, IMLS uses other federal data to analyze how public libraries serve their communities, including summary report of overall findings, research briefs highlighting topics of general interest, and 

a public use data file.

 ii. The State Library Administrative Agency Survey is conducted every two years, which provides descriptive 

information about state library agencies and the current state and health of state library administrative agencies. IMLS produces a summary report of the overall survey findings and a public use data file, which are used 

by the Chief Officers of State and Library Agencies, federal policy makers, government and library administrators at federal, state, and local levels, researchers, and the American Library Association.

 iii. The Museum Universe Data File and Visualization Tool is a list of known museums and similar organizations (e.g., zoos, botanic gardens, historic sites) in the United States, and is a public use file updated twice a 

year. It is useful to policymakers at the federal, state, and local level, associations such as the American Alliance of Museums, researchers, and the public. It forms the basis for future modeling and research that can be 

achieved by overlaying other data sets.

 iv. Work continued on the first National Household Survey about Public Needs for Library and Museums 

Services in 2015 and IMLS intends to issue a report in late 2016. The survey will answer questions about how 

the public use museums and libraries and what services they expect. After feedback from the field is gathered 

about the results from the first survey IMLS will begin planning for a second survey.

 v. Funding within this program will also include grants, cooperative agreements and interagency agreements to support research, data collection, and evaluation to address the needs of the museum and library 

fields.

Grants Programs Overview As Structured by Appropriations Legislation

Each of the IMLS grant programs supports the goals of the agency’s strategic plan. IMLS funds competitive 

grants in three categories: 1) providing seed money for innovation, research, and emerging practice; 2) building 

capacity for institutions that serve targeted populations; and 3) scaling effective practice and monitoring.

Through these grants, IMLS identifies new promising practices and provides proven/best practice tools and 

approaches for the field.
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FY 2017 Appropriations 

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1. National Leadership Grants for Libraries

National Leadership Grants for Libraries support projects that address challenges faced by libraries and 

archives and that have the potential to advance practice in those fields. National Leadership Grants projects 

generate new tools, research findings, models, services, practices, and alliances that can be widely used, 

adapted, scaled, and replicated to extend the benefits of federal investment. These projects seek innovative 

responses to identified challenges and have national impact.

Amount requested, 2015 $97,300,427

Amount awarded, 2015 $10,748,123

2. National Leadership Grants for Museums

National Leadership Grants for Museums support projects that address critical needs of the museum field 

and that have the potential to advance practice in the profession so that museums can improve services to 

the American public. Grants support the development, implementation, and dissemination of model programs 

to address field-wide needs; training and professional development programs, tools, or resources that impact 

multiple institutions by building the knowledge, skills and abilities of museum staff and/or volunteers; and 

research focusing on any broadly relevant aspect of museum practice. Grants are aligned with the IMLS 

strategic plan and provide support for learning experiences, community anchors, and collections stewardship.

Amount requested, 2015 $21,849,145

Amount awarded, 2015 $7,587,170

 Sparks! Ignition Grants for Libraries and Museums

These grants, funded through the National Leadership Grant program, are an opportunity to expand and 

test the boundaries of library, archive, and museum practices. They are small, targeted investments in 

high-risk, innovative ideas to respond to challenges and opportunities facing natural, arts, and cultural 

heritage institutions. This program covers a wide range of collecting and non-collecting museums and 

related organizations (e.g., zoos, aquaria, botanic gardens, nature centers, natural history museums). Many 

of the innovative ideas that are tested with Sparks! Ignition Grants ultimately result in larger-scale National 

Leadership Grant projects.

Amount requested, 2015 

(Libraries)

$1,507,357

Amount awarded, 2015 

(Libraries)

$473,343

Amount requested, 2015 

(Museums)

$921,019

Amount awarded, 2015 

(Museums)

$139,580
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FY 2017 APPROPRIATIONS REQUEST

3. Laura Bush 21st Century Librarian Program

This program invests in library and information professionals to prepare them for the future. Grants support 

education and professional development including scholarships for graduate students; internship and residency 

programs; curriculum and program development for graduate programs in library science, archives, or school 

librarianship; and early career development and research by library school faculty members.

Amount requested, 2015 $36,943,857

Amount awarded, 2015 $9,056,164

4. Native American/Native Hawaiian Library Services

This program builds 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 materials, computers, and connectivity (non-competitive)

• Tribal enhancement grants to expand partnerships for learning and access (competitive)

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

Hawaiians (competitive)

Amount requested, 2015 $7,304,338 

Amount awarded, 2015 $3,861,000

5. Native American/Native Hawaiian Museum Services

Native American/Native Hawaiian Museum Services grants support Indian tribes and organizations that 

primarily serve and represent Native Hawaiians. They provide opportunities to sustain heritage, culture, and 

knowledge through strengthened activities in areas such as exhibitions, educational services and programming, 

professional development, and collections stewardship. This program encourages knowledge sharing among 

these tribal communities.

Amount requested, 2015 $1,522,883

Amount awarded, 2015 $924,000
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6. Museum Grants for African American History and Culture

This program funds projects developed by or on behalf of museums with a primary purpose based in African 

American life, art, history, and/or culture. Grants provide opportunities to strengthen operations at African 

American museums through planning, interpretive program and exhibition development and delivery, 

developing forums for community dialogue, creating partnerships among museums and/or institutions of higher 

education, improving collections management and stewardship, and advancing knowledge, skills, and other 

expertise of current staff and those new to the African American museum practice.

Amount requested, 2015 $3,394,060

Amount awarded, 2015 $1,407,000

7. Museums for America 

Museums for America (MFA) grants support projects that strengthen the ability of an individual museum to 

serve its public. Grants are aligned with the IMLS strategic plan and provide support for learning experiences, 

community anchors, and collections stewardship. Museum applicants are offering a menu of options from 

which they can choose investment alternatives that best fit them and their current needs. MFA grants are 

available to a wide range of institutions that fit legislatively determined eligibility criteria. These include 

aquariums, arboretums, art museums, botanical gardens, children’s/youth museums, general museums, 

historic houses/sites, history museums, natural history/anthropology museums, nature centers, planetariums, 

science/technology centers, specialized museums, and zoological parks.

MFA grants assist institutions in achieving specific goals defined in their strategic plans through projects that 

generate measurable results tying directly to a documented need or challenge, and that in so doing, strengthen 

the institution’s ability to serve its public.

y

 Each award will be aligned tightly with one of three specific programmatic goals identified in the IMLS Strategic Plan, 2012-2016, which allows the agency to document the 

alignment of its grant making with IMLS strategic goals and objectives. By tracking both funding level and 

project category for institution types across time, the agency is developing an improved picture of evolving 

museum and community needs.

Amount requested, 2015 $53,903,405

Amount awarded, 2015 $20,207,105

8. LSTA Grants to States

The LSTA Grants to States program provides funds to State Library Administrative Agencies (SLAAs) and is a 

formula grant awarded upon population. The IMLS Library Grants to States program awards population-based 

formula grants to each SLAA in the 50 states, the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico, the Virgin Islands, American Samoa, Guam, and the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands. The formula consists of an equal 

allotment for each state plus a supplemental amount based on population.

y

The agency expects numbers to approximate those of the previous two years (FY2014 and FY2015), meaning that 20% of the MFA awards 

will range from $5,000 to $25,000 and 80% will range from $25,001 to $150,000.
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FY 2017 APPROPRIATIONS REQUEST

Population data are based on the information available from the U.S. Census Bureau website. The 2010 Act 

sets base allotments of $680,000 for states, D.C., and Puerto Rico, and $60,000 for the other entities. The 

law limits the amount of funding available for administration at the state level to four percent and requires a 

34 percent match from non-federal state or local funds.

Programs and services delivered by each SLAA support the purposes and priorities set forth in the Library 

Services and Technology Act (LSTA). SLAAs set goals and objectives for their states regarding the use of Grants 

to States funds within the statutorily required five-year plan approved by IMLS. These goals and objectives are 

determined through a planning process that includes statewide needs assessments.

Support for Pacific Territories, Freely Associated States, and the Virgin Islands

Grants to the Pacific Territories and the Freely Associated States (FAS) are funded under a Special Rule, 20 

U.S.C. § 9131(b)(3), which authorizes a small competitive grants program in the Pacific region and the U.S.

Virgin Islands. There are seven eligible entities: Guam (GU), American Samoa (AS), the Commonwealth of 

Northern Mariana Islands (CNMI), the Federated States of Micronesia (FSM), the Republic of the Marshall 

Islands (RMI), the Republic of Palau (PU), and the U.S. Virgin Islands (VI). The funds for this grant program 

are taken from the allotment amounts for the FAS (FSM, RMI, and PU). The territories (GU, AS, CNMI, VI) 

receive allotments through the Grants to States program and, in addition, may apply for funds under the 

competitive program. Five percent of this program’s funding is set aside for Pacific Resources for Education 

and Learning (PREL), based in Hawaii, to facilitate the grants review process. The projects funded under this 

program also support the LSTA purposes.

Evaluation 

Every state is required to submit evaluation reports (FY2008-2012 grant cycle) and five-year plans (FY2013- 

2017 grant cycle) and an annual State Program Report. IMLS program staff review these data to measure the 

costs of library services and to compare the cost-effectiveness of programs.

LSTA Grants to States program staff review annual reports from each state. These reports describe purposes, 

methods, outputs, and outcomes for projects that are carried out by SLAAs or their sub-awardees. In 

partnership with the IMLS Office of Planning, Research, and Evaluation, the Grants to States staff also review 

administrative data submitted by the states and territories in their evaluation reports (FY2008-2012 grant 

cycle) and five-year plans (FY2013-2017 grant cycle). Such ongoing review and evaluation guides more 

systematic measurement of costs associated with library programs and services, defines outputs and outcomes, 

and allows for useful comparisons of cost-effectiveness across programs.

In partnership with the SLAAs, IMLS is developing a project reporting system for the program. IMLS has 

provided significant technical assistance to the states and territories to clarify the range of activities supported 

by LSTA, develop a new outcome-based reporting system, and build a strong community for sharing effective 

practice. In FY 2014, 16 SLAAs worked with IMLS staff to develop the new system. Beta testing of the new 

reporting system will continue into FY 2015 with roll out to all states in FY 2016.
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Planning and Reporting

All states must develop a five-year plan outlining their major goals for the five-year grant cycle. Every state is 

required to submit annual reports and a cumulative evaluation report at the end of each five-year grant cycle.

Five-year plans, submitted in December 2012, cover activities from FY 2013 through FY 2017. Significant 

program priorities outlined in the plans include the following: 

STEM, Makerspaces, Learning Labs

Twenty-four states offer programs and services that enhance skills needed for success in the 21st century.

These include digital literacy, which encompasses the use of all digital devices; information literacy, which 

emphasizes the ability to locate, assess, and critically evaluate information; and media literacy, which includes 

the ability to create content in a wide variety of modes and formats.

Literacy Programs

All states fund literacy programs such as summer reading programs, innovative reading motivation programs, 

purchasing reading materials, and working with state and federal agencies and community organizations 

to improve literacy. Eighty percent of states plan to fund early childhood resource centers and develop 

collaborative partnerships with schools, public libraries, and other community organizations.

Technical Infrastructure / Broadband Support

All states use their funds for the acquisition and maintenance of computing hardware and software. States use 

federal funds to provide technical assistance to regional and local (many rural) outlets, purchase computers 

and mobile devices equipped with basic office programs for public use at no charge, and acquire servers 

or cloud services. More than 70 percent of states specifically identified improving broadband access as a 

priority. States use federal funds to purchase statewide telecommunications services for public libraries, foster 

relationships with Broadband Technology Opportunity Program (BTOP) partners, and provide assistance to 

states procuring and managing E-rate discounts.

Workforce Development

Half of the states have identified workforce and small business development as a primary community need.

States use federal funds to support job centers and programs, develop resume-building and interview skills in 

library customers, and acquire business databases for market research.

Civic Engagement

Fifteen states have identified civic engagement as an important community need. These states use federal 

funds to promote libraries as community hubs where residents can participate in public forums on local and 

national issues, offer community meeting spaces, and provide referrals to federal and state agencies and 

community organizations that can offer direct services or expertise.

All states plan to sustain or improve access to resources in all formats. States will use their grant funds to 

deliver books by mail or bookmobile to underserved populations, provide access to collections for the blind 

and print disabled, provide interlibrary loan services, and support integrated online searching and borrowing 

of materials. All states plan to purchase e-content including databases with full-text access, e-books, and 

e-audiobooks. A majority of states purchase statewide access to e-content, decreasing the cost for individual 

libraries. Seventy percent of states will use funds to digitize and provide access to local and archival 
34 - Institute of Museum and Library Services

FY 2017 APPROPRIATIONS REQUEST

collections including state government documents and to develop and promote guidelines and standards, 

purchase or upgrade digital asset management software and services, and provide training to staff.

Since FY 2013, SLAAs reported on the results of programs and services delivered through the Grants to States 

program using IMLS’s “Measuring Success” initiative. To date this initiative has involved over 70 volunteers 

from 54 SLAAs who are collaborating to:

• identify trends and share best practices in federally supported library activities; and

• develop strategies to ensure that these activities deliver high quality public service.

The new grant reporting tool, the State Program Report (SPR), was fully implemented by all states for the first 

time in 2015, effective for the award period of performance that ended September 30, 2015. Those reports 

are now being input into the SPR by the SLAAs. Through the new reporting tool, IMLS and all libraries will be 

able to better identify and understand national needs and trends; identify best practices; and develop plans to 

improve services through the data being reported by SLAAs.

A final, critical component is the ability to measure and report on the impact and effectiveness of library 

services. As a part of the phased development and rollout, the outcome measures component was introduced 

to sixteen state pilots for the FY2014-2015 funding year (reports due December 30, 2016). It is being rolled 

out as a mandatory component for all states reporting for projects funded with the FY 2016 two-year grant 

award (reports due 12/30/2017). The information that is being collected over the next two award periods will 

help SLAAs develop their next five-year plans, as well as develop evaluation processes with a strong system of 

“results-based management.” 
Program Descriptions
36 - Institute of Museum and Library Services

FY 2015 Library Grants to States Distribution

PROGRAM DESCRIPTIONS: LIBRARY GRANTS TO STATES

FY 2017 Budget Request: $154,848,000

The Grants to States program provides funds to SLAAs.

Awards Based upon State Plan and Population-Based Formula 

The Grants to States program awards population-based formula grants to each State Library Administrative 

Agency (SLAA) in the 50 states, the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico, the Virgin Islands, American Samoa, 

Guam, and the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands. The formula consists of an equal base 

allotment for each state plus a supplemental amount based on population. Population data are based on the 

information available from the U.S. Census Bureau website. The 2010 Act sets base allotments of $680,000 

for states, D.C., and Puerto Rico, and $60,000 for the other entities. The law limits the amount of funding 

available for administration at the state level to four percent and requires a 34 percent match from nonfederal 

state or local funds. Programs and services delivered by each SLAA support the purposes and priorities set 

forth in the Library Services and Technology Act (LSTA). SLAAs set goals and objectives for their states 

regarding the use of Grants to States funds within the statutorily required five-year plan approved by IMLS.

Goals and objectives are determined through a planning process that includes statewide needs assessments.
Institute of Museum and Library Services - 37

Program Descriptions

Table 2: State Allotments for FY 2012–2017 

State FY 2012 FY 2013 FY 2014 FY 2015 FY 2016 

FY 2017 

Request

AL $2,501,154 $2,416,705 $2,499,013 $2,476,238 $2,496,884 $2,457,603

AK $952,947 $941,340 $955,925 $952,890 $956,117 $950,147

AZ $3,250,835 $3,024,120 $3,152,086 $3,173,382 $3,233,171 $3,177,971

AR $1,800,586 $1,742,394 $1,792,501 $1,778,761 $1,793,619 $1,769,542

CA $15,029,503 $14,309,664 $15,030,377 $15,052,678 $15,317,151 $15,000,691

CO $2,641,949 $2,530,270 $2,636,913 $2,663,845 $2,720,339 $2,676,226

CT $2,038,047 $1,974,810 $2,034,387 $2,012,231 $2,022,715 $1,993,685

DE $1,023,258 $1,008,026 $1,025,955 $1,026,557 $1,033,707 $1,026,059

FL $7,871,982 $7,571,343 $7,967,170 $8,048,596 $8,259,897 $8,096,017

GA $4,495,213 $4,229,250 $4,422,103 $4,420,116 $4,499,572 $4,416,992

HI $1,159,084 $1,177,141 $1,205,222 $1,205,813 $1,215,308 $1,203,736

ID $1,280,599 $1,253,142 $1,281,957 $1,285,415 $1,298,817 $1,285,438

IL $5,664,245 $5,333,615 $5,536,935 $5,451,043 $5,488,648 $5,384,684

IN $3,161,761 $3,036,565 $3,146,080 $3,123,514 $3,155,251 $3,101,735

IA $1,844,037 $1,787,353 $1,839,676 $1,830,898 $1,848,098 $1,822,843

KS $1,773,974 $1,718,260 $1,768,651 $1,755,667 $1,768,730 $1,745,191

KY $2,350,899 $2,259,990 $2,332,425 $2,314,771 $2,334,644 $2,298,870

LA $2,424,055 $2,334,293 $2,415,973 $2,117,896 $1,907,797 $2,388,732

ME $1,185,547 $1,160,282 $1,181,411 $1,172,672 $1,177,066 $1,166,320

MD $2,889,137 $2,787,551 $2,899,835 $2,893,697 $2,863,959 $2,877,374

MA $3,233,374 $3,062,100 $3,114,756 $3,178,539 $3,220,591 $3,165,663

MI $4,504,022 $4,251,300 $4,328,074 $4,350,678 $4,390,280 $4,310,063

MN $2,717,086 $2,612,740 $2,709,174 $2,701,369 $2,732,686 $2,688,306

MS $1,819,928 $1,757,051 $1,806,004 $1,789,025 $1,798,902 $1,774,711

MO $2,994,821 $2,853,508 $2,951,676 $2,925,990 $2,954,825 2,905,643

MT $1,057,408 $1,040,956 $1,059,170 $1,059,140 $1,066,243 $1,057,893

NE $1,377,353 $1,346,312 $1,299,115 $1,376,920 $1,389,029 $1,373,700

NV $1,702,212 $1,664,773 $1,720,752 $1,731,619 $1,760,954 $1,737,583

NH $1,189,626 $1,156,668 $1,178,215 $1,171,459 $1,177,545 $1,166,788

NJ $4,042,569 $3,869,793 $4,023,991 $3,990,753 $4,029,608 $3,957,188

NM $1,463,144 $1,432,947 $1,466,728 $1,452,508 $1,459,670 $1,422,814

NY $8,146,018 $7,718,754 $7,632,818 $7,929,546 $8,082,104 $7,922,067

PROGRAM DESCRIPTIONS: LIBRARY GRANTS TO STATES
38 - Institute of Museum and Library Services

Table 2: State Allotments for FY 2012 - 2017 (continued)

State FY 2012 FY 2013 FY 2014 FY 2015 FY 2016 

FY 2017 

Request

NC $4,322,143 $4,171,823 $4,173,865 $4,363,304 $4,229,540 $4,354,046

ND $931,737 $927,315 $943,921 $953,909 $963,032 $956,914

OH $5,120,439 $4,854,737 $5,034,831 $4,974,547 $5,022,527 $4,928,640

OK $2,114,098 $2,051,036 $2,119,065 $2,116,453 $2,073,540 $2,110,919

OR $2,164,574 $2,080,092 $2,150,954 $2,150,600 $2,186,528 $2,153,956

PA $5,544,252 $5,287,918 $5,494,791 $5,416,459 $5,467,151 $5,363,652

RI $1,086,948 $1,060,158 $1,076,202 $1,070,842 $1,074,974 $1,066,435

SC $2,450,059 $2,372,043 $2,461,931 $2,469,980 $2,510,782 $2,471,200

SD $995,771 $977,994 $994,366 $996,021 $1,001,001 $994,061

TN $3,120,490 $2,995,498 $3,115,490 $3,105,919 $3,148,004 $3,094,645

TX $10,388,436 $9,964,148 $10,510,319 $10,665,018 $10,951,336 $10,729,266

UT $1,769,981 $1,698,728 $1,757,101 $1,770,068 $1,800,243 $1,776,023

VT $919,668 $906,522 $916,150 $912,082 $914,092 $909,031

VA $3,741,963 $3,607,790 $3,693,415 $3,764,107 $3,671,769 $3,746,824

WA $3,277,624 $3,149,790 $3,281,761 $3,295,633 $3,262,304 $3,303,192

WV $1,382,914 $1,350,913 $1,379,918 $1,365,372 $1,358,725 $1,354,653

WI $2,862,663 $2,745,416 $2,840,170 $2,663,262 $2,670,703 $2,791,379

WY $890,868 $885,450 $897,440 $896,374 $899,159 $894,422

DC $915,107 $903,472 $918,531 $924,058 $931,362 $925,927

Puerto 

Rico $2,140,076 $2,020,366 $2,038,457 $1,928,368 $1,564,119 $1,950,990

American 

Samoa $81,378 $80,076 $80,642 $80,129 $80,264 $79,826

Northern 

Marianas $80,748 $79,484 $79,303 $79,389 $79,993 $79,560

Guam $121,361 $117,625 $120,499 $119,926 $120,853 $119,537

U.S. 

Virgin 

Islands

$100,971 $98,477 $99,510 $98,364 $98,496 $97,663

9131(b)

(3)(C) 

Poolz

$254,658 $250,113 $254,300 $253,590 $254,576 $252,964

TOTAL $156,365,300 150,000,000 $154,848,000 $154,848,000 $155,789,000 $154,848,000

z Section 9131(b)(3)(C) of the Museum and Library Services Act directs that funds allotted based on the populations of 

the Republic of the Marshall Islands, the Federated States of Micronesia, and the Republic of Palau be used to award 

grants on a competitive basis taking into consideration recommendations from the Pacific Region Educational Laboratory in Hawaii. These three freely-associated states, along with the U.S. Virgin Islands, Guam, American Samoa, and the 

Commonwealth of the Northern Marianas, are eligible to compete for the grants.

PROGRAM DESCRIPTIONS: LIBRARY GRANTS TO STATES
Institute of Museum and Library Services - 39

FY 2015 Library Discretionary Grant Distribution

Program Descriptions

PROGRAM DESCRIPTIONS: LIBRARY DISCRETIONARY PROGRAMS

IMLS has three discretionary programs for library services: the Laura Bush 21st Century Librarian Program, 

National Leadership Grants (which includes funds for Sparks! Ignition Grants) and Native American/Native 

Hawaiian Library Services.

National Leadership Grants – Libraries

FY 2017 Budget Request: $13,720,000

National Leadership Grants (NLG) for Libraries support projects that address challenges faced by libraries and 

archives and may advance practice in those fields. NLG projects generate new tools, research findings, models, services, practices, and alliances that can be widely used, adapted, scaled, and replicated to extend the 

benefits of federal investment. These projects seek innovative responses to identified challenges and can have 

national impact if the project identifies practices that other libraries can use. 

Applications received, amount requested, 2015 265 $97,300,427

Number of grants, and amount awarded, 2015 24 $10,748,123
40 - Institute of Museum and Library Services

PROGRAM DESCRIPTIONS: LIBRARY DISCRETIONARY PROGRAMS

The Sparks! Ignition Grants program is a special initiative within the National Leadership Grant category. It 

supports projects that expand and test new library, archive, and museum practices. They are small, targeted 

investments in high-risk, innovative ideas that, if successful, could result in larger-scale National Leadership 

Grant applications.

Sparks! Ignition Grants – Libraries 

Applications received, amount requested, 2015 66 $1,507,357

Number of grants, and amount awarded, 2015 20 $473,343

Laura Bush 21st Century Librarian Program 

FY 2017 Budget Request: $10,000,000

This program invests in skills development for library and information professionals. Grants support education 

and professional development which includes scholarships for graduate students; internship and residency 

programs; curriculum and program development for graduate programs in library science, archives, or school 

librarianship; and early career development and research by library school faculty members.

IMLS is identifying the highest priority needs for library training, emphasizing professional development of the 

existing library workforce. In FY 2016 IMLS funded continuing education curriculum and programs that prepare library and museum professionals to help customers/users develop effective 21st century knowledge. This 

work will continue in 2017.

This project aims to collect and analyze individual level continuing education/professional development (CE/

PD) needs assessment data from staff across LAMs (libraries, archives and museums) to identify common and 

unique CE/PD needs. A task force is currently collecting data through virtual focus groups and in-person focus 

groups held in 2015 and 2016. Another task force is guiding a complementary national survey effort, which 

will launch and be ready for distribution by LAM organizations to individual staff/members in late February 

2016. In 2015 the project produced two publications on spanning library, archive and museum boundaries, 

and needs assessment practices.

Next steps will aim to: 1) develop a LAM-wide framework of leadership competencies across position levels, 2) 

build common leadership CE/PD evaluation tools and plug and play curricular modules (targeting leading the 

profession skills), and 3) build and foster a community of LAM leadership development trainers/instructors.

Task forces of project members coupled with contractors are actively developing LAM-serving leadership CE/PD 

evaluation and curricular resources with an eye towards piloting them later this year.

Number of applications received, amount requested, 2015 116 $36,943,857

Number of grants, and amount awarded, 2015 30 $9,056,164
Institute of Museum and Library Services - 41

Program Descriptions

Native American/Native Hawaiian Library Services

FY 2017 Budget Request: $3,861,000

This program helps native communities improve their libraries to meet the educational needs of their populations. The program offers three categories of grants to established libraries or organizations that serve 

federally-recognized Indian tribes and Native Hawaiians:

• Basic tribal grants to support materials, computers, and connectivity (non-competitive)

• Tribal enhancement grants to expand partnerships for learning and access (competitive) 

• Native Hawaiian grants to enhance existing or support new services 

Basic grants awarded, and amount awarded, 2015 211 $1,567,000

Enhancement applications received, amount requested, 2015 42 $5,019,951

Enhancement grants awarded, and amount awarded, 2015 13 $1,731,000

Native Hawaiian applications received, amount requested, 2015 5 $717,387

Native Hawaiian grants awarded, and amount awarded, 2015 4 $550,000

PROGRAM DESCRIPTIONS: LIBRARY DISCRETIONARY PROGRAMS
42 - Institute of Museum and Library Services

FY 2015 Museum Discretionary Grant Distribution

PROGRAM DESCRIPTIONS: MUSEUM SERVICES

Museums for America

FY 2017 Budget Request: $20,200,000

Museums for America grants are available to all museums. Museums for America grants assist museums in 

achieving institutional goals and objectives to serve their communities. In FY 2017, IMLS will award grants 

ranging from $5,000-$150,000.

Applications received, amount requested, 2015 521 $53,903,493

Number of grants, and amount awarded, 2015 202 $20,207,105
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Program Descriptions

PROGRAM DESCRIPTIONS: MUSEUM SERVICES

National Leadership Grants for Museums

FY 2017 Budget Request: $9,120,000

National Leadership Grants for Museums provide funding for projects that improve and advance professional 

practices for the nation’s 35,000 museums. Grants support research, professional development, and models 

and new tools that can be widely used by the field. The increase of $1.3 million over the 2016 level would 

increase the number of museums with access to digital services provided by regional hubs in a national digital 

platform.

Applications received, amount requested, 2015 67 $21,849,145

Number of grants, and amount awarded, 2015 20 $7,587,170

Sparks! Ignition Grants for Museums

The Sparks! Ignition Grants for Museums program (funded under the National Leadership Museum program) 

are small grants that encourage museums to prototype and evaluate specific innovations. 

Number of applications received, amount requested, 2015 40 $921,019

Number of grants, and amount awarded, 2015 6 $139,580

Native American/Native Hawaiian Museum Services

FY 2017 Budget Request: $924,000

This program provides grants to federally- recognized tribes and organizations that serve Native Hawaiians for 

museum-related cultural services and programs for their members and the public. Many of these programs involve the preservation, care, and interpretation of significant objects and traditions of Native American culture.

This program helps these communities learn from their common experiences and challenges.

Number of applications received, amount requested, 2015 32 $1,522,883

Number of grants, and amount awarded, 2015 21 $924,000

Museum Grants for African American History and Culture

FY 2017 Budget Request: $1,407,000

Museum Grants for African American History and Culture support projects that improve the operations, care of 

collections, and development of professional management at African American museums.

Number of applications received, amount requested, 2015 32 $3,394,060

Number of grants, and amount awarded, 2015 12 $1,407,000
IMLS Administration

Photo courtesy of Great Lakes Science Center
Institute of Museum and Library Services - 45

IMLS Administration

IMLS ADMINISTRATION

FY 2017 Budget Request: $14,000,000

Introduction

This section highlights the FY 2017 administrative funding request for the IMLS’s human capital management, 

financial and budget accountability, grants and acquisition management, maintenance of the agency’s information technology infrastructure, including the IMLS website and social media outlets, and general agency operations. IMLS remains committed to effective stewardship of administrative dollars with this request.

Human Capital Management

The Institute’s grant-making function shapes the administrative budget. Core responsibilities of IMLS personnel include: planning programs and notices of funding opportunities; overseeing the receipt, processing, and 

reviewing of grant applications; awarding of grants applications; and ensuring the execution of general grants 

management oversight of individual awards including payment requests, reading of reports, timely closeout of 

awards, and research and data collection activities. Additionally, IMLS needs highly trained personnel to perform the essential activities involved in operating a federal agency, such as budgeting, financial management 

and reporting, human resources, information technology management, legal counsel, communications and 

government affairs, and general agency operations.

Federal salaries and benefits account for approximately 67 percent of the IMLS administrative budget request, 

currently covering 73 full-time employees.

Additional fixed costs in this area include a payroll provider partnership with the Department of Interior - Interior Business Center (IBC), employee transit benefits, and various interagency agreements with the Office of 

Personnel Management (OPM) and the General Services Administration (GSA) for required human resource 

services.

Financial and Budget Accountability

IMLS anticipates continuing its successful partnership with the Federal Aviation Administration’s (FAA) Enterprise Services Center (ESC) for its accounting and financial reporting requirements. Partnering with one of the 

federal Financial Management Lines of Business (FMLOB) Centers of Excellence has significant benefits, including reducing overhead costs and the need for additional full-time employees under the Office of the Chief 

Financial Officer. IMLS also expects to move to an automated payments module within the ESC soon, which 

will improve efficiency and increase monitoring capabilities for financial assistance to grantees and vendors. In 

addition there will be a significant reduction of paper use and file space as a result of this new process.

Fixed costs in this area include the FAA-ESC partnership and the Agency’s required annual independent financial statement audit.
46 - Institute of Museum and Library Services

IMLS ADMINISTRATION

Grants and Acquisitions Management 

IMLS is continuing its partnership with the National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH), the National 

Endowment for the Arts (NEA) and the National Archives for the deployment of NEH’s new Electronic Grants 

Management System (eGMS), currently under development. The agency anticipates going “live” in the system 

in FY 2017 which would allow the full FY 2017 grant cycle to run through eGMS for all grant programs.

IMLS continues the efforts of operating under the new Uniform Administrative Requirements, Cost Principles, 

and Audit Requirements for Federal Awards. Outreach to internal and external audiences will continue around 

training to effectively implement these new requirements.

Fixed costs in this area include partnerships with IBC for the handling of grantee indirect cost proposals and 

HHS for expenses associated with the use of Grants.gov. Additional costs include field and panel expenses 

for the review of grant applications by experts in the museum and library fields, grantee audit clearinghouse 

services, and DATA act requirements. 

Information Technology 

IMLS is committed to employing state-of-the-industry, secure, and reliable information technology services 

for staff, stakeholders, and customers. The Office of the Chief Information Officer (OCIO) works continuously 

to improve its IT infrastructure and security, upgrading platforms and deploying innovative technologies to 

enhance services and convey vital information.

IMLS will implement cloud initiatives to realize advantages related to staffing, equipment maintenance and 

support, and network availability. By following the White House’s initiatives to pursue the cloud, IMLS can 

make essential applications and software more available to staff, in a more stable environment, while realizing 

cost savings related to required support of equipment, hardware, and personnel.

The OCIO has been focusing on ways to build upon the Federal Information Security Management Act requirements for continuous monitoring that involve different approaches to reporting. In addition, Continuous 

Diagnostics and Mitigation (CDM) technologies will be pursued to support continuous monitoring of all network security items. The CDM Program provides tools and services that enable federal government agencies 

to strengthen the security of their networks and secure their day-to-day handling of essential data. Continuing 

with the CDM program, IMLS will be installing tools and sensors that will have the ability to automatically 

detect security threats and vulnerabilities, report on the incident, and diagnose the issue.

IMLS will also be using assessment results to look at a unified communications solution which would allow the 

agency to use more stable and cost effective digital technology. The unified solution will provide access to VoIP 

technologies, which will reduce the cost of telephone operations, allowing staff to telework more easily, and to 

integrate e-mail and telephone systems to enhance and simplify communications.

IMLS will be implementing a system and modifying policies for managing both permanent and temporary email 

records in an accessible electronic format. This will include the ability to identify, retrieve, and retain agency 

records for the purpose of records management and any litigation requirements.
Institute of Museum and Library Services - 47

IMLS Administration

IMLS ADMINISTRATION

Fixed costs in this area include telecommunications, software licenses and maintenance, equipment, IT contractual services, and FISMA audit requirements.

General Operations

The agency anticipates its’ relocation from 1800 M Street to 955 L’Enfant Plaza will be completed in the 

spring of 2016. Fixed costs in this area include GSA office space rent, federal protective services with the Department of Homeland Security, employee training, travel, equal-employment opportunity services, and general 

maintenance and supplies necessary to operate a federal agency.

Communications and Government Affairs

Recent Highlights:

IMLS is taking an even broader view of its communications functions to include all the ways IMLS touches its 

stakeholders, both current and potential. IMLS continue to develop digital services and use emerging technologies to serve the public as effectively as possible. The IMLS website (www.imls.gov), the primary means by 

which the public obtains information about the agency, has been redesigned, This redesign included: establishing strong governance, ensuring information quality, publishing content in open formats and making content 

searchable, and using analytics to improve customer experience. In addition, IMLS focused on implementing 

tighter security controls, protecting privacy, and maintaining access for people with disabilities and/or limited 

English proficiency. IMLS will continue to make enhancements to the website and optimize it for new mobile 

use technologies.

In FY 2016 and continuing in to FY 2017, the Office of Communications and Government Affairs (OCGA) will 

support the agency’s strategic plan by disseminating accurate and timely information and providing opportunities to engage the public in IMLS grant-making, research, partnerships, and policy activities. OCGA will be 

an active participant in the new IMLS strategic planning process to insure that various sources of information 

about the fields’ interest areas and communications media are considered.

The Office continues to organize the National Medal for Museum and Library Service, an annual celebration of 

the community service role of libraries and museums. OCGA operates the agency’s website, media relations, 

and twitter feed, as well as essential digital and print publications such as the UpNext blog (7,000 subscribers), the monthly newsletter, Primary Source (17,000 subscribers) and the agency’s annual report. It also supports special initiatives such as the Let’s Move! Museums & Gardens effort, Maker Fairesaa, and various library 

and museum convenings.

aahttps://www.imls.gov/news-events/events/capitol-hill-maker-faire
48 - Institute of Museum and Library Services

IMLS ADMINISTRATION

Administrative Request by Object Class Code

In FY 2017, the IMLS request for administrative costs is $14,000,000. Areas supported by this request are 

summarized below.

Table 3: IMLS History of Administration Costs: FY 2015 – FY2017

($ in thousands) 

Object Class Description FY 2015 FY 2016

FY 2017 

Request

11000/12000/13000 Personnel Compensation and 

Benefits

$9,000 $9,400 $9,400

21000 Travel and Transportation of 

Persons

700 700 700

22000 Transportation of Things 20 20 20

23000 Rental of Space (Rent, Communications and Utilities), 

Equipment Rental, Telephone 

Services, Postage

1,550 1,250 900

24000 Printing and Reproduction 40 40 40

25000 Other Contractual Services 3,540 2,400 2,750

26000 Supplies and Materials 50 50 50

31000 Equipment 100 140 140

Total $15,000 $14,000 $14,000

11000 Personnel Compensation

12000 Personnel Benefits

13000 Benefits for Former Personnel

Amount Requested: $9,400,000

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 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 73 FTE in 2017.

21000 Travel and Transportation of Persons

Amount Requested: $700,000

This object class supports travel for IMLS staff to conduct site visits to oversee IMLS grants, panel reviews for 

the discretionary grant programs, meetings for state data collection and Grants to States professional development activities, and staff presentations on IMLS programs. Travel funds also support the annual National Medals for Museum and Library Service as well as two NMLSB meetings.
Institute of Museum and Library Services - 49

IMLS Administration

IMLS ADMINISTRATION

In FY 2015, IMLS successfully implemented a new travel system that decreased the per unit cost of processing travel authorizations and vouchers. The new travel system will also provide more comprehensive management reports to assist in more robust tracking of travel related costs.

22000 Transportation of Things

Amount Requested: $20,000

This object class includes freight and express charges by common carrier, contract carriers, and other incidental expenses. Attendance at library and museum conventions, conferences, and meetings requires shipment of 

the Institute’s displays and certain associated materials. This area also includes mail transportation charges for 

express package services (i.e., charges for transporting freight).

23000 Rent, Communications and Utilities, Rental of Space (Standard Level Usage Charge), Equipment 

Rental, Telephone Services, Postage

Amount Requested: $900,000

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

services, including data, voice, and cable services; equipment rental; rental of audiovisual equipment used in 

presentations at conference sessions and off-site meetings; and postage.

IMLS reduced rental costs by relocating to a new location in L’Enfant Plaza in the southwest quadrant of Washington DC and reducing total rentable square footage.

24000 Printing and Reproduction 

Amount Requested: $40,000

This object class funds the composition and printing of program applications and guidelines, research publications, conference proceedings, and Federal Register notices. To contain costs, IMLS has expanded the use 

of our website and other various forms of social media. The site provides access to program guidelines, grant 

information, recent awards lists, and a variety of information about IMLS initiatives, activities, and programs.

IMLS continues to expand the electronic dissemination of all public materials to reach prospective grantees 

from institutions of all sizes and in all geographic areas to keep printing costs at a minimum.

25000 Other Contractual Services

Amount Requested: $2,750,000

This object class supports a wide range of contractual services that are not covered in any of the preceding 

categories. The increase requested will support anticipated agency move expenses which may include renovation costs. Also, included in this expense category are costs for

• the support, maintenance, and improvement of information technology systems, including cyber-security 

activities;

• partnerships and interagency agreements for financial management systems, accounting and reporting services, payroll processing, grant indirect cost proposals, travel system processing, Data Act implementation, 

development of e-invoicing strategy, building security, and other required government services; 

• information technology support such as the State Program Reporting system, maintenance of the IMLS 

website, as well as maintenance of the General Supporting System for all agency operations;

• independent financial and IT-related audits;

• Grants Management Line of Business and Grants.gov related expenses;

• employee training;
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IMLS ADMINISTRATION

• agency contracts for temporary personnel assistance; and

• honoraria for panelist and field reviewers for grant proposals and applications.

26000 Supplies and Materials

Amount Requested: $50,000

This object class funds only the essential office supplies needed in carrying out the business of IMLS. IMLS 

continues to be a partner in the GSA SmartPay2 charge card program, receiving discounts and thereby holding 

these expenses to a minimum.

31000 Equipment 

Amount Requested: $140,000

This object class supports all equipment, furniture, and office machines having a useful life in excess of one 

year, such as chairs, desks, file cabinets, IT equipment, and printers. It also includes routine upgrades to local 

area network hardware and software in order to accommodate upgrades in database management and financial 

data. The majority of anticipated equipment expenditures will be for technology renewal of office automation 

equipment, systems software, and furniture that would be more expensive to repair than replace. IMLS will use 

existing hardware by upgrading rather than purchasing new equipment wherever possible. Rapid changes in 

technology, however, will make it necessary to purchase some new computer equipment, integration systems 

software and hardware, and electronic data exchange systems. IMLS will use these funds to follow Administration directives and guidance and federal laws, to become a more mobile workforce, and to remain on the 

cutting edge of technology in delivering efficient services.

Total Administrative Services Request: $14,000,000
FY 2017 Performance Plan

Photo courtesy of Chabot Space & Science Center
52 - Institute of Museum and Library Services

Build Evidence

Act on 

Evidence

Support 

Knowledge

Diffusion

Evaluate 

Effectiveness

Revise 

Programs

FY 2017 PERFORMANCE PLAN

Step 1: Build Evidence 

Over the past two years IMLS has focused considerable effort on improving its monitoring of grant program investments and measuring impact. The agency has reconfigured its policy and operational leadership structure, 

reorganized work units, and altered staffing allocations to concentrate greater resources on technical assistance, strategic partnerships, evaluation of program impacts, and the communication of best practices.

The agency’s five-year strategic plan provides a clear road map for synthesizing lessons learned from grant 

making, national initiatives, and policy research to inform future investments, share best practices, and build 

organizational capacity across the library and museum sectors. Staff from each of the agency’s program and 

operational units is actively engaged in the implementation of the new strategic plan, and IMLS established 

cross-agency teams to monitor progress for each goal.

Step 2: Act on Evidence

IMLS functions as a learning organization with significant content-area expertise. The IMLS program staff possesses a significant depth of experience in the museum and library service sectors. IMLS constantly reviews its 

grant and project portfolios. These reviews increase administrative efficiency, monitor program performance, 

and develop more targeted grant guidelines.

In the earliest stage of the grant process, experienced library, museum and education sector professionals 

perform a two-tiered peer review of applications to assure that project proposals are in line with best practices.

All grantees report on the conduct of their projects on an annual basis and on project outcomes at the conclusion of the grant period. IMLS is working with evaluation experts and museum and library stakeholders to build 

more robust outcome-based reporting tools. In addition, third party evaluations of IMLS grant programs are 

conducted on a rolling basis to measure program impact and review administrative functions and efficiency 

and program costs.

In areas where greater evidence of effective practice is needed, IMLS is experimenting with making smaller 

FY 2016 – 2017 Performance Improvement Model
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FY 2017

Performance Plan

FY 2017 PERFORMANCE PLAN

challenge grants. In areas where effective practice is known, IMLS is encouraging applicants to align program 

efforts with these practices.

Step 3: Evaluate Effectiveness

For many years, IMLS worked to improve evaluation capacity in the field by providing general guidance materials broadly and technical assistance to individual grantees on a project-by-project basis. While many grantees 

found the technical assistance valuable, the strategy was not effective at documenting lessons learned for the 

field or in building a stronger community of practice for museum or library service evaluation.

The agency has shifted its emphasis from project-level assessment to program-level performance assessment.

In FY 2016 the agency will have reached an important milestone by modifying performance reporting requirements for all formula and discretionary grant programs. For the discretionary grant programs, the new performance reporting requirements will align grantee performance reporting with goals in the IMLS strategic plan, 

and restructure interim and final performance reporting formats to facilitate administrative review and information sharing. 

More specifically, in 2016 applicants began selecting an agency-level goal directly linked to IMLS’s strategic 

plan and at least one pre-determined performance goal. Applicants could choose among three performance 

goals for Learning projects, one for Community projects and three for Content and Collections projects. Each 

performance goal was written to reflect a measurable change or an outcome that applicants intend their 

projects to achieve. For Learning and Community projects, applicants selected at least one performance 

measurement statement which was associated with specific data to be collected. For Content and Collections 

projects, which focus on objects or records, applicants were free to define their own performance measurement 

statements, which we expect may be output rather than outcome focused. In each case, a performance measurement statement describes what success will look like for the project, and when aggregated over time, the 

resulting data will be invaluable in assessing performance for grant programs and the agency as a whole.

The first set of applications filed under this new requirement will be processed in FY2016 and learnings from 

the responses by applicants, peer reviewers, and agency staff will be incorporated into the next iteration for 

FY2017. We expect to have the first sets of data filed in FY2018.

Additionally, in the fall of 2015 SLAAs began reporting into an entirely new performance reporting system.

This important milestone is the culmination of three years of planning and development in partnership with 

SLAAs. The new Grants to States reporting tool improves project reporting: First, it dramatically alters the 

reporting structure using a branched, closed-ended survey format which makes the data easier to report and 

to process. Secondly, it integrates two separate reports, the State Program Report and the Financial Status 

Report, into a single comprehensive report. Third, it greatly expands the performance measures collected by 

the SLAA and its sub-grantees. It also makes the administrative data available to the public (in a variety of 

formats), allowing the public and SLAAs to monitor trends and best practices. The work done to transform the 

Grants to State Program anticipated many of the new performance reporting requirements of the Council on 

Financial Assistance Reform (COFAR). 
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FY 2017 PERFORMANCE PLAN

Step 4: Support Knowledge Diffusion

IMLS recognizes that improving evaluation practices without communicating results does little to improve 

museum and library services. IMLS works to identify and create new, more effective knowledge-sharing opportunities. In its grant programs, IMLS requires all grantees to share findings through publicly accessible publications, conference presentations, journal articles and/or association websites.

Performance reporting forms and requirements for both the formula and discretionary grant programs were 

designed with the explicit intention of sharing the data publicly in both machine readable data file formats and 

as narrative project profiles for review by the interested public and library and museum practitioners. IMLS 

recognizes the need to share the vast amount of information from its grantees in a manner that can be used by 

scholars and practitioners alike. 

Step 5: Continually Revise Agency Programs and Services to Incorporate Best Practice

IMLS’s strategic plan builds on the agency’s strategic resources to achieve positive public outcomes for communities and individuals; support the role of museums and libraries in preserving and providing access to 

collections and content; and promote library, museum, and information service policies that ensure access to 

information for all Americans. IMLS developed the five-year plan with significant public input, via public meetings and discussions with stakeholder groups and the use of social media tools.

Strategic Plan Update

The IMLS Strategic Plan 2012 – 2016 provides the framework for the annual performance plan, with activities 

focused on the five strategic goals. The strategic plan included specific plans for high-priority activities in FY 

2016. In FY 2017 IMLS will begin to develop the next 5-year Plan.

Building on the current foundation, we will conduct a thorough opportunity scan using both qualitative and 

quantitative information. We will engage the field and other funders and agencies to solicit their ideas about 

the future of libraries and museums. We anticipate that newly identified strategies will continue to be based on 

a rigorous approach of mixing discretionary investments with different degrees of risk, scope, and stage of concept development. The ongoing open grants programs and grants to state libraries provide the baseline support 

so essential to the field to continue serving and engaging their communities.
Authorizing Framework

Photo courtesy of Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture (NYPL)
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AUTHORIZING FRAMEWORK

This budget justification requests funding under both the Museum and Library Services Act (MLSA) and the 

National Museum for African American History and Culture Act.

The Museum and Library Services Act of 2010 was signed into law (PL 111-340) on December 22, 2010.

This law made modifications to 20 USC Chapter 72, the statutory authorization of most IMLS activities, and 

reauthorized appropriations for the agency through 2016. In reauthorizing the MLSA, Congress 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. Congress also 

recognized the special role of museums and libraries in promoting the information and educational needs of a 

democratic society. The updated reauthorization language calls on IMLS to take an active role in research and 

data collection and to advise the President and Congress on museum, library, and information services. 

The current MLSA authorizes funding through 2016; the National Museum for African American History and 

Culture Act is a permanent authorization. With the support of key stakeholders in Congress, IMLS is currently 

working towards MLSA reauthorization in the beginning of FY 2017. We want any new or revised authorization 

language to be balanced: broad enough to accommodate changing needs of the field and specific enough to 

maintain emphasis on key themes that continue to be important to the museum and library fields.

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

Culture Act, key IMLS programs and activities, and the distribution of IMLS funds.

Library Services 

All the programs support the following goals, as stated in the updated IMLS statute 

(20 U.S.C. §9121):

1. to enhance coordination among Federal programs that relate to library and information services; 

2. to promote continuous improvement in library services in all types of libraries in order to better serve 

the people of the United States; 

3. to facilitate access to resources in all types of libraries for the purpose of cultivating an educated and 

informed citizenry; 

4. to encourage resource sharing among all types of libraries for the purpose of achieving economical and 

efficient delivery of library services to the public; 

5. 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; 

6. to enhance the skills of the current library workforce and to recruit future professionals to the field of 

library and information services; 

7. to ensure the preservation of knowledge and library collections in all formats and to enable libraries to 

serve their communities during disasters; 

8. to enhance the role of libraries within the information infrastructure of the United States in order to 

support research, education, and innovation; and 
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AUTHORIZING FRAMEWORK

9. 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

Use of Funds

SLAAs may use the appropriation for statewide initiatives and services for:

1. expanding services for learning and access to information and educational resources in a variety of 

formats, in all types of libraries, for individuals of all ages in order to support such individuals’ needs 

for education, lifelong learning, workforce development, and digital literacy skills;

2. establishing or enhancing electronic and other linkages and improved coordination among and between 

libraries and entities, as described in 9134(b)(6) of this title, for the purpose of improving the quality 

of and access to library and information services;

3. (A) 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 (B) enhancing efforts to recruit future professionals to the field of library and 

information services;

4. developing public and private partnerships with other agencies and community-based organizations;

5. 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;

6. 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;

7. developing library services that provide all users access to information through local, State, regional, 

national, and international collaborations and networks; and

8. carrying out other activities consistent with the purposes set forth in section 9121 of this title, as 

described in the state library administrative agency’s plan.

Library Discretionary Grants 

The Library Services Discretionary Grants Programs are established in 20 U.S.C. Sections 9161, 9162, 

and 9165 and include: National Leadership Grants, Native American Library Services Basic Grants, Native 

American Library Services Enhancement Grants, Native Hawaiian Library Services, and Laura Bush 21st 

Century Librarian Program.

National Leadership Grants support projects that address challenges faced by the museums, libraries, and/or 

archives and that have the potential to advance the practices of those institutions. According to statute, the 

funded activities may include

1. building workforce and institutional capacity for managing the national information infrastructure and 
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AUTHORIZING FRAMEWORK

serving the information and education needs of the public; 

2. (A) 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 technologies, including 

projects that enable library users to acquire digital literacy skills and that make information resources 

more accessible and available; and (B) dissemination of information derived from such projects; 

3. preserving or digitizing of library materials and resources, giving priority to projects emphasizing coordination, avoidance of duplication, and access by researchers beyond the institution or library entity 

undertaking the project, including the development of national, regional, statewide, or local emergency 

plans that would ensure the preservation of knowledge and library collections in the event of a disaster; and 

4. model programs demonstrating cooperative efforts between libraries and museums.

The Native American Library Services Basic Grant funds are distributed in equal amounts among eligible 

applicants. Basic Grants may support existing library operations and maintain core library services. The Native American Library Services Enhancement Grant program and the Native Hawaiian Library Services Grant 

program are competitive; projects may enhance existing library services or implement new library services.

The Laura Bush 21st Century Librarian Program is also a competitive grant program. The statutory purposes of 

the program are

1. recruiting and educating the next generation of librarians, including by encouraging middle or high 

school students and postsecondary students to pursue careers in library and information science; 

2. developing faculty and library leaders, including by increasing the institutional capacity of graduate 

schools of library and information science; and 

3. enhancing the training and professional development of librarians and the library workforce to meet 

the needs of their communities, including those needs relating to literacy and education, workforce 

development, lifelong learning, and digital literacy.

Museum Services

Museum Discretionary Grants 

The Museum and Library Services Act authorizes the IMLS Office of Museum Services for these purposes:

1. Encouraging and supporting 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 

heritage

2. Encouraging and supporting museums in carrying out their educational role, as core providers of learning and in conjunction with schools, families, and communities

3. Encouraging 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 
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Authorizing Framework

AUTHORIZING FRAMEWORK

4. Assisting, encouraging and supporting museums in carrying out their stewardship responsibilities to 

achieve the highest standards in conservation and care of the cultural, historic, natural, and scientific 

heritage of the United States to benefit future generations

5. Assisting, encouraging and supporting museums in achieving the highest standards of management 

and service to the public, and to ease the financial burden borne by museums as a result of their 

increasing use by the public

6. Supporting resource sharing and partnerships among museums, libraries, schools, and other community organizations

7. Encouraging and supporting museums as a part of economic development and revitalization in communities

8. Ensuring museums of various types and sizes in diverse geographic regions of the United States are 

afforded attention and support 

9. Supporting efforts at the State level to leverage museum resources and maximize museum services

The National Museum of African American History and Culture Act 

This Act directs the Director of IMLS to consult with the Council and Director of the National Museum of African American History and Culture to establish the following:

1. a grant program with the purpose of improving operations, care of collections, and development of professional management at African American museums;

2. a grant program with the purpose of providing internship and fellowship opportunities at African American 

museums;

3. 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.

Policy Research, Analysis, Data Collection, and Dissemination

Section 9018 of the Museum and Library Services Act authorizes the Director of IMLS to annually conduct 

policy research, analysis, and data collection with ongoing collaboration (as determined appropriate by the 

Director), and in consultation, with (1) state library administrative agencies; (2) national, state, and regional 

library and museum organizations; (3) other relevant agencies and organizations.

The legislation further states that the policy research, analysis, and data collection shall be used to

1. identify national needs for and trends in museum, library, and information services; 

2. measure and reports on the impact and effectiveness of museum, library, and information services 

throughout the United States, including the impact of federal programs authorized under this Act; 

3. identify best practices; and 

4. develop plans to improve museum, library, and information services of the United States and to 

strengthen national, state, local, regional, and international communications and cooperative networks.
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AUTHORIZING FRAMEWORK

IMLS provides reliable and objective data and analysis to inform policy decisions. It is a source of information about library and museum service trends, including analysis of market conditions that affect the financial 

health of the museum and library sectors and research on emerging services. The data and analyses will also 

be used to inform the portfolio of grant-making investments made by the agency. IMLS is committed to supporting highly diverse perspectives, methods, and researchers to advance museum, library, and information 

services research.

Interagency Collaboration

The Museum and Library Services Act authorizes the IMLS Director to support interagency collaboration: 

The Director shall work jointly with the individuals heading relevant Federal departments and agencies, 

including the Secretary of Labor, the Secretary of Education, the Administrator of the Small Business 

Administration, the Chairman of the Federal Communications Commission, the Director of the National 

Science Foundation, the Secretary of Health and Human Services, the Secretary of State, the Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency, the Secretary of the Interior, the Secretary of Housing 

and Urban Development, the Chairman of the National Endowment for the Arts, the Chairman of the 

National Endowment of the Humanities, and the Director of the Office of Management and Budget, or 

the designees of such individuals, on: 

1. initiatives, materials, or technology to support workforce development activities undertaken by 

libraries;

2. resource and policy approaches to eliminate barriers to fully leveraging the roles of libraries and 

museums in supporting the early learning, literacy, lifelong learning, digital literacy, workforce 

development, and education needs of the people of the United States; and 

3. initiatives, materials, or technology to support educational, cultural, historical, scientific, environmental, and other activities undertaken by museums.

Federal Partnerships

Americans depend upon libraries and museums to deliver a wide range of public services. As more and more 

government services are only available online, museums and libraries have an increased role in the delivery 

of federal information and services. In the past several years, federal agencies are increasingly seeking partnerships with IMLS, as they recognize the power that libraries and museums have in reaching the American 

public.

IMLS has a wide range of interagency partnerships including advancing broadband adoption, coordinating early 

learning activities, and supporting the effective delivery of workforce development services. Below are some of 

the federal partnerships IMLS is involved with.

• IMLS was one of three federal agencies in 2015 (along with NASA and the National Park Service) that 

collaborated with the U.S. Department of Education around its 21st Century Community Learning Center 

(CCLC) program, the largest out-of-school program in the nation. The initiative will expand programs and 
Institute of Museum and Library Services - 61

benefit more underserved students in sites nationwide. Specifically, IMLS partnered with the Exploratorium, the San Francisco-based science museum with a history of innovation in maker education, to increase 

STEM programming for underserved students in sites nationwide. Beginning in spring 2015, the Exploratorium introduced students at 25 21st CCLC sites in communities in California, Florida, New York, Pennsylvania, and Texas to STEM-rich making and tinkering activities, building on the growing maker movement.

It also supports local networks of science museums and youth serving programs so they can work directly 

with the 21st CCLC sites.

• IMLS is one of six federal agencies contributing to Performance Partnership Pilots (P3). Other participating agencies include the U.S. Departments of Education, Labor, Health and Human Services, and Justice, 

as well as the Corporation for National and Community Service. The P3 program is intended to break down 

silos and improve educational and workforce outcomes for disconnected youth through programs offered by 

states, localities, tribal governments, and their partners.

• In 2013, the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) signed a memorandum of understanding with IMLS pledging to support local libraries’ services to new immigrants. More than 55 percent of 

people who immigrated to the United States within the last 15 years use the public library at least once a 

week and more mock naturalization interviews take place at public libraries than at any other community 

institution. Since 2014, IMLS has worked with USCIS to conduct a webinar series to help librarians meet 

the needs of new immigrants and to provide libraries with resources on citizenship and immigration. To 

date, ten webinars have been held with over 900 total attendees, covering a range of USCIS products and 

services of interest to libraries. New webinars will be held in 2017.

• IMLS is working with the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) to help libraries access and use 

financial education tools. In 2015, CFPB continued its financial literacy webinars for libraries, established 

partnerships at the individual library and statewide level, and worked with IMLS on plans for future dissemination of financial education information to libraries. 

• IMLS participates in the multi-agency Informal Science Education Forum which brings together Federal 

agency representatives to share information and resources on STEM-focused programming.

• IMLS administers a sub-initiative of the Let’s Move! program called Let’s Move! Museums and Gardens to 

help millions of museum and garden visitors learn about healthy food choices and promote physical activity through interactive exhibits and programs. Over 650 museums participate in the Let’s Move! Museums 

and Gardens program.

• IMLS has an ongoing partnership with the President’s Committee on the Arts and the Humanities, and the 

Alliance for Young Artists & Writers to present the National Student Poets Program, the nation’s highest 

honor for young poets (grades 9-11) presenting original work.

• IMLS worked with the White House on several new initiatives in 2015, including the Open eBooks initiative and ConnectED Library Challenge, which strengthen student learning by improving access to public libraries and reading materials, particularly for children from low-income families. IMLS has actively participated in the President’s new interagency Broadband Opportunity Council (BOC), charged with developing a 

framework of recommendations to support broadband deployment and adoption.

Authorizing Framework

AUTHORIZING FRAMEWORK
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To limit printing costs, the Institute of Museum and Library Services is restricting the print run 

of this document to a limited number of copies. An electronic version is available for download 

at https://www.imls.gov/sites/default/files/publications/documents/fy17cj_0.pdf.