[lstac] Assurances question

Wed Nov 5 06:08:20 PST 2025

It sounds like a lot of us inherited a process and have not had the time to completely revamp it. I’m glad to see some states are similar to MI’s process though. Good to know it isn’t an outlier.

Karren Reish
Library Grants Coordinator
Library of Michigan
517-241-0021 / www.mi.gov/lsta<http://www.mi.gov/lsta>

From: Shannan Furlow <sfurlow at georgialibraries.org>
Sent: Wednesday, November 5, 2025 9:05 AM
To: JRegensburger at library.ohio.gov
Cc: Melanie Boyd <mcwainwright at utah.gov>; Reish, Karren (MDE) <ReishK at michigan.gov>; lstac at omls.oregon.gov
Subject: Re: [lstac] Assurances question

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In Georgia, we operate just like Ohio with keeping them separate. It was also a process I inherited. We used to federal assurances annually and now do it at award along with the other required documents.

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On Wed, Nov 5, 2025 at 8:59 AM JRegensburger--- via lstac <lstac at omls.oregon.gov<mailto:lstac at omls.oregon.gov>> wrote:
In Ohio, we maintain the assurances/certifications document separate from the contract/grant management requirements document.

Neither document are required to apply for a grant, but both are required from the subrecipients if a grant is awarded.

I expect there are arguments for doing it one way over the other, but honestly, I do it like that mostly because that’s the method I inherited, and it seems to work OK.

Jeff

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Jeff Regensburger (he/him/his)
Library Consultant/LSTA Coordinator, Library Programs & Development
State Library of Ohio
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From: lstac <lstac-bounces at omls.oregon.gov<mailto:lstac-bounces at omls.oregon.gov>> On Behalf Of Melanie Boyd via lstac
Sent: Tuesday, November 4, 2025 7:19 PM
To: Reish, Karren (MDE) <ReishK at michigan.gov<mailto:ReishK at michigan.gov>>
Cc: lstac at omls.oregon.gov<mailto:lstac at omls.oregon.gov>
Subject: Re: [lstac] Assurances question

Hi Karren,

Thanks for starting this convo. I've been at Utah State Library for about 8 months, and need to update all our LSTA docs and website... I'll be watching replies.

We currently have the Assurances in our Pre-Application documents. You can see how the the doc list is currently organized here <https://library.utah.gov/lsta/current-grant/> on our website (which is another project). The assurances are also linked in each LSTA subgrant application, and the applicant digitally confirms them by typing their name into and answer box as part of that process. They are also referenced in our LSTA subgrantee contracts. Additionally, in our Certified Library process also covers these items, and certification is a requirement for funding eligibility.

I'm about to do my first LSTA Adminstration training, and hadn't thought about including the Assurances there. In our case, I don't see a need to review these as part of the grant administration training beyond perhaps a bullet point mentioning them as required. If I were in your shoes, I wouldn't rewrite the manual either. What I would do is make sure they're referenced within attached in an addendum to your contracts. It happens that the person applying for the grant sometimes isn't a director, and just signs the box to get the application submitted without realizing the full obligation. Including a reference or addendum in the contract assures that the responsible and accountable parties are duly  informed.

Melanie

On Tue, Nov 4, 2025 at 1:57 PM Reish, Karren (MDE) via lstac <lstac at omls.oregon.gov<mailto:lstac at omls.oregon.gov>> wrote:
I was dutifully checking the other sample assurances against mine and have a question for the hive mind. Some folks are putting grant management requirements together with federal assurances into one document. I’m doing federal assurances as one document that is signed as part of the application. I also have grant management requirements in a grant administration manual. We are under the Department of Education that has a standard 2-page form for grant awards. On that form, I can note specific program requirements, and I say must follow the grant admin manual and the signed assurances.

Any thoughts on why to do it one way or another? I do like the one document for clarity, but I really don’t want to rewrite my admin manual.

Karren Reish
Library Grants Coordinator
Library of Michigan
517-241-0021 / www.mi.gov/lsta<http://www.mi.gov/lsta>
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