ACRL College & Research Libraries News

College & Research Libraries News

From Inside the DLP

Dh. Katharine M. Stokes

College and University Library Specialist, Training and Resources Branch, Division of Library Programs, Bureau of Libraries and Educational Technology, U.S. Office of Education, Washington, D.C. 20202.

Perhaps you have already received a letter notifying you that the president of your institution has received a set of application materials for a college library resources grant under Title II-A of the Higher Education Act. If you have not yet seen the application, you should call your president’s office and ask to have the materials sent on to you for filling out and submitting to the Division of Library Programs in Washington by March 15. Perhaps your institution has designated a person or office to prepare grant applications for the whole campus and the materials may have been sent there instead of to you, but you should be aware of some big changes in this year’s program which reveal that only one library in three will receive any money in contrast to the previous five years when almost all libraries were awarded basic grants.

You will remember that for four years the basic grant was $5,000 provided that the amount could be matched. In 1970 when the appropriation for Title II-A shrank from $25,000,000 to $9,816,000, the basic grant was $2,500 or less. This year only the neediest institutions are to be awarded basic grants of up to $5,000. In order to determine which are the neediest, criteria have been devised to score the supplemental applications which you are asked to submit with the basic one. Approximately the highest scoring third of the institutions submitting the double application will be awarded a $5,000 basic grant (or whatever portion they are able to match in nonfederal funds) and a supplemental of up to $10 per FTE student, the amount depending upon the points they score. The other two-thirds (the lower scorers) will receive nothing. The scoring is based chiefly on the deficiency in volumes in the library in relation to the FTE students on its campus and on the number and percentage of the student body coming from homes with less than $5,000 annual income or who are receiving federal work-study aid.

Fifteen percent of the $9,900,000 appropriation expected will be devoted to special purpose grants. Type A and Type B applications from institutions in or adjacent to model cities areas will be scored on the criteria described in the instructions accompanying the application forms. The Type B grants will be awarded to a very few libraries which have developed collections on the right to read, drug abuse, environmental pollution, or early childhood education which they are willing to share with their communities. Type C grants will be awarded to a few consortiums of institutions, some preference being given to those including community colleges in their membership.

The applications for special purpose grants are due April 15. The awards must be matched by one-third in nonfederal funds. ■ ■