Nice job getting your project funded with a Library Services and Technology Act (LSTA) Competitive Grant through the State Library of Oregon! The LSTA Advisory Council and the State Library Board have recommended and approved your project for funding, and by doing so have identified your project as one of many activities that will help meet the goals of the State Library of Oregon's LSTA Program 5-Year Plan.
You should have already received a LSTA Competitive Grant Contract from the State Library of Oregon. Your project can begin on July 1 as long as we have received a signed copy of your contract by then. If you have any questions about the contract, please let us know!
We'll do our best to communicate with you in plain language, but here are a couple of bureaucratic details to be aware of:
Your project will run on the state fiscal year cycle, which runs from July 1 to June 30. We report to the Institute of Museum and Library Services (IMLS) on the most recent state fiscal year's activities, expenditures, and outcomes by the end of the following December.
Also, we may occasionally refer to your institution or organization as a subrecipient. This is because the State Library of Oregon is the recipient of the federal LSTA award, and your organization is by extension a subrecipient.
Now that we've gotten that out of the way....
Please refer to information below throughout your grant project, and don't hesitate to contact us at any time!
As stated in your grant contract, you'll be required to submit four quarterly reports and a final report on your project. These reports serve as a main mechanism for the State Library to monitor the project's progress, and to help you find solutions should a significant roadblock come up for you.
Please use the template forms linked below for your reports.
Report |
Report on Activities & Expenditures accomplished during this period |
Report Due |
|---|---|---|
| Quarter 1 | July 1 - September 30 | October 31 |
| Quarter 2 | October 1 - December 31 | January 31 |
| Quarter 3 | January 1 - March 31 | April 30 |
| Final | July 1 - June 30 | July 31 |
You will need to measure the outcomes of your LSTA grant project with the intended audience or group for which you have aimed to have an impact. For most of you, this will mean surveying your audience with a brief survey tool to see if your project has had its intended impact. The IMLS provides four different survey templates which can be used directly or adapted to fit the needs of your situation. The templates haven been created to serve one of two typical audiences: the general public or the library workforce. They have also been organized around broad, typical activities for LSTA grants: instruction (general public OR library workforce); content creation or acquisition (library workforce); or planning and evaluation (library workforce).
Please use whichever template makes the most sense for your project, and if you have questions or concerns don't hesitate to contact us.
Promoting your project is important -- so important, in fact, the LSTA Advisory Council and the State Library of Oregon has decided to require grant applicants to outline their project's promotional plans in through the LSTA Competitive Grant application starting in FY2019.
Promoting this work can take many forms, and we realize not every project will find utility in all of these avenues; however, some mechanisms for promoting your project to a general audience can include:
You are absolutely more than welcome to include State Library of Oregon and Institutute of Museum and Library Services branding in your promotional materials. Below are just a couple of examples, but if you need more to work with please contact us and/or gather more branding resources from the IMLS.
All LSTA grant funds are distributed to grantees by the State Library of Oregon through a reimbursement process. We recommend submitting your claims for reimbursement for grant-related costs, along with all supporting documentation (timesheets, invoices, receipts, etc.), to us on a quarterly basis. You are also welcome to submit claims to us monthly, or at the point of need.
To submit a claim, complete the Claim for Payment form below, and email it to us along with supporting documentation to lsta.grants@state.or.us. Please include your grant number in the subject line of your email.
This is completely optional for your library and/or fiscal agent, but if you wish to enroll your organization for Automated Clearing House (ACH)/direct deposit payments, please complete this form (fillable PDF) from the State of Oregon's Department of Administrative Services. More information about ACH is here.
If you find that you need to reallocate grant funds from one budget category to another (as outlined in your LSTA Competitive Grant application), please contact us at lsta.grants@state.or.us so that we are aware of any new or unanticipated costs. Please reach out to us early on so we can help you find good solutions!
If you would like to reallocate costs above 10% of your total LSTA grant award from one budget category to another, you must submit a Grant Modification Request form (below) and your request will be reviewed by the State Librarian and possibly the State Library Board. As long as the scope or intended outcomes of your project are not significantly altered, your request will likely be approved quickly.
Please keep us up to date with any key changes to your project staff. You likely filled out a Contact Sheet along with your grant contract. If your project lead and/or key financial contact for the grant project changes during the funding period, please let us know by submitting an updated Grant Contact Sheet (below) to lsta.grants@state.or.us.
