[lstac] Exemplary projects

[Maura Walsh]

Hi Jeff & company,
Glad to have a little distraction as I am snowed in(!).
We have under 25 projects and what follows are only my opinions:
I would never designate more than two projects as exemplary. This year only one: a digitization project that got a lot of traction, including invitations to present at various conferences.
I also would not designate a project as exemplary more than one year running, unless there were significant gains in outcomes, changes in activities, or impact on community.
It's also fine to not have any exemplary  projects.
One thought I have is that this designation may be a way of asking for closer scrutiny, but that may just be superstition. But, of course, it does create a bit more works at every level.
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:image002.jpg at 01DC8F7E.786F65D0]





From: lstac <lstac-bounces at omls.oregon.gov> On Behalf Of JRegensburger--- via lstac
Sent: Tuesday, January 27, 2026 11:01 AM
To: lstac at omls.oregon.gov
Subject: [lstac] Exemplary projects

Hey Pals,

We're starting to look at how we recognize Exemplary projects among our subawardees and projects and I was hoping to get maybe a sense of how many projects you all designate as exemplary.

I'll go first. I usually have about 35-40 projects in my SPR each year, and I give out exemplary designations to anywhere between 5-8.

I'm also very much aware that a lot of that designation comes from how well someone can execute a project AND craft a report. Put another way, I know there are a lot of libraries doing exemplary projects, but they aren't turning in enough detail or documentation to really show the impact.

Thanks, and stay warm if you're anywhere inside this cold snap!

Jeff

[A picture containing text  Description automatically generated]

Jeff Regensburger (he/him/his)
Library Consultant/LSTA Coordinator, Library Programs & Development
State Library of Ohio
274 E. 1st Avenue
Columbus, OH 43201
T: 614.644.6863
jregensburger at library.ohio.gov<mailto:jregensburger at library.ohio.gov>
library.ohio.gov<https://library.ohio.gov/>

-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: <https://omls.oregon.gov/pipermail/lstac/attachments/20260127/89f6bb01/attachment-0001.html>
-------------- next part --------------
A non-text attachment was scrubbed...
Name: image002.jpg
Type: image/jpeg
Size: 1024123 bytes
Desc: image002.jpg
URL: <https://omls.oregon.gov/pipermail/lstac/attachments/20260127/89f6bb01/attachment-0001.jpg>
-------------- next part --------------
A non-text attachment was scrubbed...
Name: image003.png
Type: image/png
Size: 18127 bytes
Desc: image003.png
URL: <https://omls.oregon.gov/pipermail/lstac/attachments/20260127/89f6bb01/attachment-0001.png>