National Leadership Grant Focus 2006
To encourage national models IMLS placed a priority on National Leadership Grants for youth development projects. IMLS defines “youth development projects” as those projects that provide services to youth ages 9-19, that engage them in activities with social and civic value, that establish pathways toward increasing independence and responsibility, and that improve skills and contribute to overall well-being. Projects may be based in-school or out-of-school, may focus on particular disciplines (e.g., art, history, science) or skills (e.g., literacy, character development, technology); may provide services to under-served or disadvantaged youth (e.g., rural, tribal, low-literacy); or may engage youth in cross-cultural or inter-generational activities. IMLS will work with recipients of FY 2006 National Leadership Grants to engage in joint planning and evaluation efforts.

Guidelines were posted on November 4, 2005 and the deadline was February 1, 2006. Applications are currently under review, and awareds will be announced in September 2006.

Planning and Evaluation
Library Grants to States: Summer Reading IMLS is working with several states to develop measurement tools for summer reading programs. Nearly every state is involved in summer reading programs and these programs reach hundreds of thousands each year. These tools should help to assess impact and to produce comparable data from libraries in states with widely divergent demographics.

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