Chapter 1. Purpose of the Manual 

We know that some of you have gotten grants before, even grants from this agency under LSCA or under LSTA. This is the eigth year of grants under the Institute of Museum and Library Services (IMLS) administration of this program and this manual should help streamline the process of managing your project. We recommend that the Library Director and Project Director (in some cases, the same person) become familiar with this manual and refer to it at any time that questions arise.

Grant requirements change and this Manual is key to communicating these changes to you. This Manual is planned to provide an easily accessible guide to what happens once you have been awarded a Library Services and Technology Act (LSTA) grant. It will provide you with one location in which all forms, deadlines, required financial and programmatic reporting, and contractual responsibilities can be referenced.

You should keep your Manual in a handy location and refer to it throughout the life of your grant. Once the project is completed and the Final Report and Audit submitted, the Manual and your reports should represent a complete record of the project and can be filed in the library. Project files must be kept for three years after the project is completed and all financial reports submitted. In prior years, this Manual was sent out with the contracts and documents your agency director and governing authority needed to sign and return to us in order for your project to begin. This year, we are sending the Manual separately, but included with this mailing is a copy of the cover letter that accompanied the contract documents. A sample Agreement is also included.

This Manual is primarily written for Project Directors and will guide you through the preparation of reports, especially the financial reporting which most people find the hardest, and remind you of the do's and don'ts along the way. Do not use old forms or a manual from a previous project or year. Forms may contains numbers that will - incorrectly - identify your project for our business office, and a number of important changes have been made to the Manual this year.

	Note
	Many do's and don'ts appear in the Agreement your library must sign with the MBLC. References to this Agreement will appear throughout this Manual as "Agreement: #", with the "#" referring to the appropriately numbered paragraph.

	Additional Note
	A number of items in this Manual do not apply to Mini-Grants. These are noted where they occur in the text or in sections.