The Native American Basic Grants (NAB) program assists eligible Native Communities in establishing, sustaining, and improving library services and operations with their communities.
Donor Name: Institute of Museum and Library Services
State: All States
County: All Counties
Type of Grant: Grant
Deadline: 03/13/2026
Size of the Grant: $1000 to $10,000
Grant Duration: 1 Year
Details:
The Institute of Museum and Library Services (IMLS)’s mission is to advance, support, and empower America’s museums, libraries, and related organizations through grantmaking, research, and policy development. Three agency-level goals, with two objectives each, guide grantmaking.
Agency-Level Goal
- Champion Lifelong Learning
- Advance shared knowledge and learning opportunities for all
- Support the training and professional development of the museum and library workforce.
- Agency-Level Goal 2 Strengthen Community Engagement
- Agency-Level Goal 3 Advance Collections Stewardship and Access
- Support collections care and management.
- Promote access to museum and library collections
The goal of the program is to improve library and archival services for accessing, learning, and preserving information with the community through the following objectives:
- supporting the acquisition of library-related materials;
- supporting programming for identified community priorities;
- supporting training for library staff; and
- supporting project activities that include aspects of two or more of the objectives listed above.
Funding Information
- Total amount of funding: $1,700,000
- Expected amount of individual awards: $6,000 – $10,000
- Average amount of funding per award experienced in previous years: $10,000
Project Period
August 1, 2026 – July 31, 2027.
Allowable Costs
- personnel salaries, wages, and fringe benefits, including annual cost of living increases
- travel expenses for key project staff and consultants
- materials, supplies, software, and equipment related directly to project activities
- adaptive and/or assistive technologies and other resources and services to improve accessibility for persons with disabilities
- participant support costs, including temporary dependent care, if documented in written policies
- third-party costs
- design and publication costs
- program evaluation
- data collection and management
- staff and volunteer training
- paid internships/fellowships
- stipends or honoraria for project advisors and active participants
- pre-award costs, at the discretion of and with prior written approval from the agency
Eligibility Criteria
To be eligible for an award under this Native American Library Services Basic Grants Notice of Funding Opportunity, your Native Community must be Federally recognized and offer library and/or archival services to the community. Such services may include, but are not limited to providing free access to:
- books, print and electronic media;
- research databases;
- job, employment, and career resources;
- reference desk services;
- space for reading, studying, and meeting; and
- events and activities such as programs, classes, and cultural events for all ages.
Application Limits
- Applications for renewal of your currently active IMLS awards are not eligible to compete with applications for new awards.
- If eligible, you may submit multiple applications for support of separate and distinct projects through other IMLS grant programs.
Partnerships and Collaborations
- Applications involving partnerships or collaborations are welcome so long as the Tribe is the lead applicant. Potential partners can include other departments within the Tribe, Alaska Native supporting entities, Tribal colleges and universities, school libraries, or local non-Tribal libraries and non-profits.
- If the Tribe collaborates with a partner, the Tribe must meet all eligibility requirements, serve as the lead applicant, and administer the award on behalf of the other(s).
- If they fund the project, the Tribe will be programmatically, fiscally, and legally responsible for the award.
For more information, visit Grants.gov.
