[lstac] Assurances question

Wed Nov 5 08:00:07 PST 2025

Hello Erica,

This is a really great perspective for the one document approach. I know
our subrecipients are starting to feel burnout. THis is something for our
state library to consider. Thank you for sharing!

Shannan

On Wed, Nov 5, 2025 at 10:55 AM Erica McCormick via lstac <
lstac at omls.oregon.gov> wrote:

> Howdy, all!
>
>
>
> I’m on the one-document (or staged document) wagon. They sign a document
> when they apply indicating they have permission to apply, then they get an
> award letter to tie them over until the contract is ready. I inherited the
> single document process, but we added in the award letter because many
> subrecipients needed something besides an email as proof and it allowed
> them to get some things moving while waiting on the contract to arrive. The
> single contract makes it easier to hold them accountable.
>
>
>
> With multiple documents I think you run the risk of applicants burning out
> on the administrative burden and misplacing documents. Minimizing that
> burden for you and them would be worth it.
>
>
>
> It also depends on what needs to be signed and returned. Many of our
> libraries have to go to the county judge/commissioner’s court/city council
> for signatures and the agreements must be added to an agenda for approval.
> Going back multiple times would be a nightmare.
>
>
>
> Hope this helps.
>
>
>
> Erica
>
>
>
>
>
> *From:* lstac <lstac-bounces at omls.oregon.gov> *On Behalf Of *Maura Walsh
> via lstac
> *Sent:* Wednesday, November 5, 2025 8:42 AM
> *To:* Reish, Karren (MDE) <ReishK at michigan.gov>; Melanie Boyd <
> mcwainwright at utah.gov>
> *Cc:* lstac at omls.oregon.gov
> *Subject:* Re: [lstac] Assurances question
>
>
>
> Good morning,
>
> Attached is our latest incarnation for the new contract agreements we are
> just creating this week.
>
> In the guidelines that walk potential awardees through the application
> process, we state:
>
> Certification Statements/Assurances
>
> As a condition of receiving an Expanding Digital Literacy grant award,
> recipients are required to certify agreement with certain federal and state
> assurances. A signed certification statement must be submitted with the
> application. Additional assurances will be supplied to applicants that are
> offered a grant award.
>
> I hope this is helpful. Please feel free to copy, modify, or suggest any
> shortcomings you may find. As always, extra points for typos or grammatical
> errors. 😊
>
> Best,
> Maura
>
> *Maura Walsh, MLIS* (she/her/hers)
>
> *Grants Manager and LSTA Coordinator  *
>
> *New Jersey State Library*
>
> *P: *(609) 278-2640 x136
>
> *E. *mwalsh at njstatelib.org
>
> *W. *www.njstatelib.org
>
> 185 West State Street
>
> P.O. Box 520, Trenton, NJ  08625
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
> *From:* lstac <lstac-bounces at omls.oregon.gov> *On Behalf Of *Reish,
> Karren (MDE) via lstac
> *Sent:* Wednesday, November 5, 2025 9:11 AM
> *To:* Melanie Boyd <mcwainwright at utah.gov>
> *Cc:* lstac at omls.oregon.gov
> *Subject:* Re: [lstac] Assurances question
>
>
>
> In my Administration training, I reference the Assurances, but go through
> the Administration manual in detail. Not that that helps them get started,
> but they have been told – in writing, in a meeting and the meeting
> recording is available.
>
>
>
> Karren Reish
>
> Library Grants Coordinator
>
> Library of Michigan
>
> 517-241-0021 / www.mi.gov/lsta
>
>
>
> *From:* Melanie Boyd <mcwainwright at utah.gov>
> *Sent:* Tuesday, November 4, 2025 7:19 PM
> *To:* Reish, Karren (MDE) <ReishK at michigan.gov>
> *Cc:* lstac at omls.oregon.gov
> *Subject:* Re: [lstac] Assurances question
>
>
>
> *CAUTION: This is an External email. Please send suspicious emails to
> abuse at michigan.gov <abuse at michigan.gov>*
>
>
>
> 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> 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
>
> [image: Michigan's Top 10 Strategic Education Plan]
> <https://www.michigan.gov/mde/resources/michigans-top-10-strategic-education-plan>
>
> [image: Michigan.gov/Vote logo Description automatically generated]
> <https://mvic.sos.state.mi.us/>
>
> Get personalized voter information on early voting and other topics at
> Michigan.gov/Vote <https://mvic.sos.state.mi.us/>.
>
>
>
>

-- 

[image: logo with link to Georgia Public Library Service website]
<https://georgialibraries.org/>

Shannan R. Furlow, MLIS

Director of LSTA and Sponsored Programs

------------------------------

Georgia Public Library Service

2872 Woodcock Blvd, Suite 250 | Atlanta, GA 30341

(404) 235-7137 | sfurlow at georgialibraries.org

[image: logo with link to Georgia Public Library Service Facebook page]
<https://www.facebook.com/georgialibraries>[image: logo with link to
Georgia Public Library Service Instagram page]
<https://www.instagram.com/georgialibraries/>[image: logo with link to
Georgia Public Library Service LinkedIn page]
<https://www.linkedin.com/company/georgia-public-library-service/>[image:
logo with link to Georgia Public Library Service Threads page]
<https://www.threads.net/@georgialibraries>

Join our email list <http://georgialibraries.org/subscription> for stories
of Georgia libraries making an impact in our communities.
-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: <https://omls.oregon.gov/pipermail/lstac/attachments/20251105/2739edff/attachment-0001.html>
-------------- next part --------------
A non-text attachment was scrubbed...
Name: image003.jpg
Type: image/jpeg
Size: 1024123 bytes
Desc: not available
URL: <https://omls.oregon.gov/pipermail/lstac/attachments/20251105/2739edff/attachment-0001.jpg>
-------------- next part --------------
A non-text attachment was scrubbed...
Name: image004.png
Type: image/png
Size: 22781 bytes
Desc: not available
URL: <https://omls.oregon.gov/pipermail/lstac/attachments/20251105/2739edff/attachment-0002.png>
-------------- next part --------------
A non-text attachment was scrubbed...
Name: image005.png
Type: image/png
Size: 12580 bytes
Desc: not available
URL: <https://omls.oregon.gov/pipermail/lstac/attachments/20251105/2739edff/attachment-0003.png>