Activating Community Opportunities Using Museums/Libraries as Assets – A National Leadership Grants Special Initiative | NLGSPECIALINITIATIVE COMMUNITYCATALYST F

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The Activating Community Opportunities Using Museums/Libraries as Assets - A National Leadership Grants Special Initiative is a discretionary grant opportunity from the Institute of Museum and Library Services (IMLS) under the National Leadership Grants programs for Libraries and for Museums. It sits within a special Community Catalyst initiative, meaning the emphasis is not just on improving a single organization, but on helping libraries, archives, and museums (often referred to together as the LAM field) act as community anchors that can spark broader local progress. The central idea is to fund projects that tackle meaningful, field-wide challenges while also producing lessons and resources that others can use, adapt, and replicate well beyond the original grantee.

IMLS is looking for proposals that advance both theory and practice in how LAM organizations contribute to community change. Competitive projects are expected to show, in a concrete and credible way, how museums and libraries can serve as trusted public spaces where sustained community dialogue can happen, especially dialogue that helps people explore and connect individual stories and lived experiences. Rather than one-off events, the opportunity emphasizes ongoing engagement and learning between LAM organizations and the communities they serve. The goal is to demonstrate how these institutions can help communities make sense of shared issues, build relationships, and co-create responses that lead to positive outcomes.

A distinguishing feature of this special initiative is its encouragement to borrow from and adapt proven methods outside the traditional LAM toolbox. Applicants are invited to draw on established approaches from collective impact work, social well-being strategies, and community development practice, and to demonstrate that those approaches can be effectively applied within library and museum settings. In practice, that means proposals should go beyond describing good intentions and instead explain the model being used, why it fits the local context, how partners and residents will participate, and how the approach can be tested, documented, and improved in ways that others in the field can learn from.

IMLS also makes clear that strong projects should generate outputs and outcomes that extend the value of federal investment. Expected results include things like new tools or frameworks, research findings, replicable models, services and practices that can be scaled, or partnerships and alliances that can be sustained and copied elsewhere. In other words, the funding is aimed at producing field-level value, not just local program delivery. The project should leave behind practical knowledge or resources that can travel, whether that is a toolkit, evaluation findings, implementation guide, training materials, or a partnership model that can be reproduced in different communities.

From an administrative standpoint, this opportunity was listed with a funding opportunity number of NLGSPECIALINITIATIVE COMMUNITYCATALYST F and a CFDA number of 45.312, and it falls within the Arts and Humanities activity category. The original application closing date was April 3, 2017. The award ceiling was $150,000, and IMLS anticipated making about 20 awards. Eligible applicant types are described broadly as "Others," and the notice points applicants to detailed eligibility requirements for library entities, museum entities, community entities, and institutions of higher education, signaling that collaborative, cross-sector applications are a natural fit for the goals of this initiative.

Overall, this special initiative is designed for projects that treat libraries and museums as civic assets: places with public trust, convening power, and the ability to connect people and ideas. The most competitive proposals would be those that show a clear community-centered challenge, a strong and adaptable method for engagement and change, meaningful participation by community members and partners, and a plan to produce transferable results that strengthen the wider museum and library field.

• The Institute of Museum and Library Services in the arts, humanities sector is offering a public funding opportunity titled "Activating Community Opportunities Using Museums/Libraries as Assets – A National Leadership Grants Special Initiative" and is now available to receive applicants.
• Interested and eligible applicants and submit their applications by referencing the CFDA number(s): 45.312.
• This funding opportunity was created on 2017-02-01.
• Applicants must submit their applications by 2017-04-03. (Agency may still review applications by suitable applicants for the remaining/unused allocated funding in 2026.)
• Each selected applicant is eligible to receive up to $150,000.00 in funding.
• The number of recipients for this funding is limited to 20 candidate(s).
• Eligible applicants include: Others.

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