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American Rescue Plan funds through IMLS: Home

The New Hampshire State Library has received $2,297,692.00 as part of the American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA). The ARPA funds will be disbursed to the NH State Library through the Institute of Museum and Library Services’ (IMLS) Grants to States program.

IMLS Spending Priorities

This funding is to be used by September 30, 2022, to help libraries and their communities respond directly and immediately to the pandemic, as well as to related economic and community needs through equitable approaches. Spending priorities are as follows:

  1. First, to support digital inclusion efforts to enable libraries to reach residents such as through internet hotspots, accessible Wi-Fi, and digital content and related resources, particularly in support of education, health, and workforce development needs. The following types of data, among others, can inform efforts to reach underserved populations:
    • Poverty/Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP)
    • Unemployment
    • Broadband availability;
  2. Second, to provide rapid emergency relief to libraries across the country, allowing them to safely respond to the pandemic and implement public health protocols;
  3. Third, to support library services that meet the needs of communities throughout the U.S., including costs such as personnel, technology, training, materials, supplies, equipment, and associated indirect costs; and
  4. With respect to (1), (2), or (3), reach tribal and museum partners best positioned to assist with pandemic response efforts, in addition to traditionally eligible library entities, where appropriate.

These funds may NOT be spent on any construction-related projects.

Sub-Grant Information

New Hampshire State Library will use these funds to provide statewide services as well as sub-grants to NH public libraries. Guidelines and instructions to apply for sub-grants will be available over the next few weeks. If your library intends to apply for any sub-grants, please make sure to have obtained a DUNS number or a SAM.gov registration – this information will be required on all sub-grant applications per IMLS. To obtain a DUNS number, please apply through https://www.dnb.com/duns-number/get-a-duns.html or calling 1-844-235-0039. Note that a SAM.gov registration will be required by IMLS beginning on April 1, 2022.

State of New Hampshire governance requires approval to spend IMLS ARPA federal funds from the NH Governor and Council, and the Joint Legislative Fiscal Committee.  We received approval for IMLS ARPA expenditures in FY21 (July 1, 2020 - June 30, 2021) on 5/19/2021 from NH Governor & Council, and on 5/21/2021 from the Joint Legislative Fiscal Committee. Approvals from those bodies for the new state biennium (FY22 and FY23) are pending in July and August for further expenditures of funds after 6/30/2021.

Note that these links below are for librarians to understand what is being agreed to in the grant application and the associated certifications and assurances:

FINAL REPORTS FOR SUCCESSFUL APPLICANTS ARE DUE 9/30/2021

The first round of subgrants for the American Rescue Plan Act was a formula program that provides monies to every public library in NH. This formula includes a $1,000 base amount, an amount based on the population served by that library (using the 2019 population estimates by the New Hampshire Office of Strategic Initiatives), and potentially $1,675 if the library is located within one of the five counties that has a Small Area Income and Poverty Estimates from 2019 that is equal to or greater than 9% of the population at or below poverty level. Please view this pdf spreadsheet that details what every public library in NH can receive in this first subgrant round.

Note that these funds will still require the receiving library to submit an application (so that we can verify that the funds will be used for the purposes outlined in the IMLS grant parameters), a grant agreement, and a final report detailing how the funds were actually spent. A DUNS number or SAM.gov registration will be required for the application.

List of Library Subgrant Allotments-First Round

Final Report Links, Guidelines, and Forms

Instructions for Submitting Reimbursement Form, Invoices, and Signed Grant Agreement

Libraries who chose Reimbursement for fund disbursement need to submit Four (4) items via email to lori.a.fisher@dncr.nh.gov by 8/31/2021 in order to receive their full grant amount:

1.Completed Request for Reimbursement form and invoices/receipts that reflect the entire grant allotment in ONE pdf labeled ARPA-subgrant1_[libraryname]_[xx_xx_xxxx].pdf;

2. A signed short-form Grant Agreement labeled Agreement_[libraryname]_Round1_[month_year].pdf. 

3. A signed and notarized Certificate of Municipality (town or city libraries) OR Certificate of Vote (non-profit libraries) labeled COM_[libraryname]_Round1_[month_year].pdf

4. A Certificate of Insurance naming NH Dept of Cultural Resources as additional insured, with $1 million minimum liability and evidence of worker's compensation coverage, labeled COI_[libraryname]_Round1_[month_year].pdf

Links to the Request for Reimbursement form, the short-form Grant Agreement, the fillable Certificate of Muncipality, and the fillable Certificate of Vote are below, along with a link to the pdf Instructions for completing the short-form Grant Agreement.

THE APPLICATION PERIOD FOR THIS SUB-GRANT ROUND CLOSED 6/20/2021

An NHSL ARPA sub-grant opportunity to support the implementation of nhaisLOCAL Koha systems in libraries who participate in the NHAIS ILL System opened on Friday, May 28, 2021. Priority will be given to those public libraries that do not currently have an automation system. All NHAIS ILL System participants that have not already implemented an open-source Koha system in their libraries are invited to apply This grant application closes on June 20, 2021. Full details on this sub-grant are available at https://www.nh.gov/nhsl/nhais/arpa.html

 

A list of grantees is posted above (pdf document). All grantees received official approval of grant awards by NH Governor & Council on 12/22/2021.

OVERALL ARPA COMPETITIVE ROUND 2 INFORMATION:

  • The grant period in which these funds must be spent is January 1, 2022 through July 30, 2022
  • This was a competitive grant process that utilized a review panel of 5 librarians, who ranked each application based on set criteria in order to provide equity for the process.
  • Applications for collaborative/partnership projects were weighted, meaning they will be given priority consideration. Applications from individual libraries were be considered only after all collaborative/partnership projects have been reviewed and either approved or rejected.
  • All grant projects fall within the NHSL LSTA 5-Year-Plan Goals and Activities, and within the IMLS American Rescue Plan Act grant priorities (see Resources tab for a pdf listing these activities/priorities).
  • No grant monies are used for construction or other unallowable costs. For more information, read through the IMLS Tip Sheet for Allowable Costs. Any questions about whether or not a cost is allowable should be directed to Lori Fisher, lori.a.fisher@dncr.nh.gov.

IMPORTANT DATES:

January 1, 2022

Beginning of sub-grant round #2 project activities period.

January/February 2022

After G&C approval of awardee grant amounts on 12/22/21, grantees submitted their grant package documents (Certificate of Authority, Grant Agreement, etc.) for NH DOJ approval. Checks are then cut and sent to grantees for the full grant amount.

February 23 or February 28, 2022

 One hour mandatory virtual Zoom call regarding Documentation of Grant Expenditures for all Grantees
May 1, 2022 Interim Report portal opens in Submittable
May 15, 2022 Deadline to submit Interim Report

June 15, 2022 (date amended from 6/1/22)

 If the actual grant-funded project monetary costs differ by 10% or more from what was stated in the application narrative, this is the deadline to submit the Grant Amendment form. For example, if your award amount was $10,000 and you change what you are spending $1,020 on, you will need to submit that form since $1000 is 10% of $10,000.

July 30, 2022

End of sub-grant round #2 project activities period. All monies must be spent by this date (invoices/receipts must have a date of 7/30/22 or earlier).
August 1, 2022 Final Report portal opens in Submittable

August 31, 2022 @ 11:59 pm

Deadline for final reports, sub-grant round #2

 

GRANTEE ROUND 2 RESOURCES, FORMS & LINKS:

IMLS grantee communications kit (contains link to LOGOS): https://www.imls.gov/grants/grant-recipients/grantee-communications-kit

INTERIM report (Submittable) link: New Hampshire State Council on the Arts Submission Manager - NHSL IMLS ARPA Subgrant #2 Interim Report FY22 (submittable.com)  **reminder that link is not live until 8 am on Sunday 5/1/2022**

(See below attachments for NHSL logo file)

Contact

New Hampshire librarians may contact either the State Librarian or the Assistant State Librarian with input and questions/concerns about IMLS ARPA funding:

Michael York, State Librarian: 603-271-2397, michael.c.york@dncr.nh.gov

Lori Fisher, Assistant State Librarian: 603-271-2393, lori.a.fisher@dncr.nh.gov

This project was made possible in part by the Institute of Museum and Library Services and the New Hampshire State Library.