Laura Bush 21st Century Librarian Program (2023)

Background
The Laura Bush 21st Century Librarian Program (LB21) supports the training and professional development for library and archives professionals; developing faculty and information leaders; and recruiting, educating, and retaining the next generation of library and archives professionals in order to develop a diverse workforce of library and archives professionals and meet the information needs of their communities.

The goals for this program are to generate projects of far-reaching impact that recruit, train, develop, and retain a diverse workforce of library and archives professionals; develop faculty, library, and archives leaders by increasing the institutional capacity of libraries, archives, and graduate programs related to library and information science; enhance the training and professional development of the library and archival workforce to meet the needs of their communities.

Grant Details
The Laura Bush 21st Century Librarian Program has three program goals with associated objectives. The program supports projects that influence practice across disciplines within libraries and archives fields. It emphasizes collaboration to demonstrate broad need, wide buy-in, input, and access to appropriate expertise.

The program has five project types: Planning, Forum, Implementation, Early Career Research Development, and Applied Research. Each project type has a specific period of performance ranging from one to three years. The program uses four performance measures: effectiveness, efficiency, quality, and timeliness. Recipients must follow IMLS regulations in effect at the time of the award.

Eligibility Requirements
Eligible applicants include units of State or local government or private nonprofit organizations with nonprofit status under the Internal Revenue Code located in specific geographic areas. Eligible organizations include libraries or parent organizations responsible for library administration; academic or administrative units; digital libraries; library agencies; library consortia; or library associations.

Cost share requirements differ according to project type. There is no limit to the number of applications an eligible applicant may submit under this announcement.

Period of Performance
Projects must begin on August 1, 2023. The anticipated period of performance is August 1, 2023 – July 31, 2026. Project activities may be carried out for one to three years based on the selected project type.

Grant Value
$8,000,000 is expected to be awarded through this announcement with an anticipated number of awards being 37. The average amount of funding per award experienced in previous years is $258,108.