OpportunityTitle: Sparks! Ignition Grants for Libraries
AdditionalInformationOnEligibility: To be eligible as an applicant for this 2016 Sparks! Ignition Grants for Libraries Program, you must:&#8226;be either a unit of State or local government or be a private nonprofit organization that has tax-exempt status under the Internal Revenue Code;&#8226;be located in one of the 50 States of the United States of America, the District of Columbia, the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, the U.S. Virgin Islands, Guam, American Samoa, the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands, the Republic of the Marshall Islands, the Federated States of Micronesia, or the Republic of Palau; and&#8226;qualify as one of the following: &#9702;a library or a parent organization, such as a school district, a municipality, a State agency, or an academic institution, that is responsible for the administration of a library. Eligible libraries include public libraries, public elementary and secondary school libraries, college and university libraries, research libraries and archives that are not an integral part of an institution of higher education and that make publicly available library services and materials that are suitable for scholarly research and not otherwise available. Research libraries must be under the supervision of at least one permanent professional staff librarian and be either generally recognized as possessing unique, scholarly research materials and services that are made available to the public, or able to demonstrate that such is the case when submitting an application to IMLS;&#9702;a private library or other special library, but only if the State in which it is located determines that the library should be considered a library for purposes of Library Services and Technology (see 20 U.S.C. 9121-9165);&#9702;an academic or administrative unit, such as a graduate school of library and information science that is part of an institution of higher education through which it would make application;&#9702;a digital library, if it makes library materials publicly available and provides library services, including selection, organization, description, reference, and preservation, under the supervision of at least one permanent professional staff librarian;&#9702;a library agency that is an official agency of a State or other unit of government and is charged by the law governing it with the extension and development of public library services within its jurisdiction;&#9702;a library consortium that is a local, statewide, regional, interstate, or international cooperative association of library entities that provides for the systematic and effective coordination of the resources of eligible libraries, as defined above, and information centers that work to improve the services delivered to the clientele of these libraries; or&#9702;a library association that exists on a permanent basis; serves libraries or library professionals on a national, regional, State, or local level; and engages in activities designed to advance the well-being of libraries and the library profession.
Description: Sparks! Ignition Grants for Libraries are a special funding opportunity within the IMLS National Leadership Grants for Libraries program. These small grants encourage libraries and archives to test and evaluate specific innovations in the ways they operate and the services they provide. Sparks Grants support the deployment, testing, and evaluation of promising and groundbreaking new tools, products, services, or organizational practices. You may propose activities or approaches that involve risk, as long as the risk is balanced by significant potential for improvement in the ways libraries and archives serve their communities.Successful proposals will address problems, challenges, or needs of broad relevance to libraries and/or archives. A proposed project should test a specific, innovative response to the identified problem and present a plan to make the findings widely and openly accessible.To maximize the public benefit from federal investments in these grants, the Sparks! program will fund only projects with the following characteristics:Broad Potential Impact&#8212;You should identify a specific problem or need that is relevant to many libraries and/or archives and propose a testable and measurable solution. Proposals must demonstrate a thorough understanding of current issues and practices in the project&#8217;s focus area and discuss its potential impact within libraries and/or archives. Proposed innovations should be widely adoptable or adaptable.Significant Innovation&#8212;The proposed solution to the identified problem must offer strong potential for non-incremental, significant advancement in the operation of libraries and/or archives. You must explain how the proposed activity differs from current practices or takes advantage of an unexplored opportunity, and the potential benefit to be gained by this innovation.
GrantorContactEmailDescription: mball@imls.gov
GrantorContactText: Mary Alice Ball &lt;br/&gt;Senior Library Program Officer &lt;br/&gt;202-653-4730 &lt;br/&gt;mball@imls.gov  &lt;br/&gt; &lt;br/&gt;Tim Carrigan &lt;br/&gt;Senior Library Program Officer &lt;br/&gt;202-653-4639 &lt;br/&gt;tcarrigan@imls.gov  &lt;br/&gt; &lt;br/&gt;Sandra Toro &lt;br/&gt;Senior Library Program Officer &lt;br/&gt;202-653-4662 &lt;br/&gt;storo@imls.gov  &lt;br/&gt; &lt;br/&gt;Emily Reynolds &lt;br/&gt;Library Program Specialist &lt;br/&gt;202-653-4665 &lt;br/&gt;ereynolds@imls.gov &lt;br/&gt;