[lstac] Assurances question

Wed Nov 5 08:02:28 PST 2025

You are very welcome!

From: Shannan Furlow <sfurlow at georgialibraries.org>
Sent: Wednesday, November 5, 2025 10:00 AM
To: Erica McCormick <emccormick at tsl.texas.gov>
Cc: Maura Walsh <mwalsh at njstatelib.org>; Reish, Karren (MDE) <ReishK at michigan.gov>; Melanie Boyd <mcwainwright at utah.gov>; lstac at omls.oregon.gov
Subject: Re: [lstac] Assurances question

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<mailto: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<mailto: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<mailto:ReishK at michigan.gov>>; Melanie Boyd <mcwainwright at utah.gov<mailto:mcwainwright at utah.gov>>
Cc: lstac at omls.oregon.gov<mailto: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<mailto:mwalsh at njstatelib.org>
W. www.njstatelib.org<https://www.njstatelib.org/>
185 West State Street
P.O. Box 520, Trenton, NJ  08625

[cid:image001.jpg at 01DC4E3B.49669990]

From: lstac <lstac-bounces at omls.oregon.gov<mailto: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<mailto:mcwainwright at utah.gov>>
Cc: lstac at omls.oregon.gov<mailto: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<http://www.mi.gov/lsta>

From: Melanie Boyd <mcwainwright at utah.gov<mailto:mcwainwright at utah.gov>>
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

CAUTION: This is an External email. Please send suspicious emails to abuse at michigan.gov<mailto: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<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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