[lstac] Exemplary projects

Tue Jan 27 08:27:50 PST 2026

Interesting!

I expect a lot of my exemplary designations are informed by the years I spent as a supervisor prior to taking on LSTA grant work. In that role I became quite an evangelist for positive feedback and reinforcement.

I haven’t kept up on all of Ohio, but I think it’s safe to say that most of our state is covered in anywhere from 8 -14 inches of snow. It’s bitterly cold too.

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/>

From: Mary Rayme -MSLA- <maryp.rayme1 at maryland.gov>
Sent: Tuesday, January 27, 2026 11:13 AM
To: Regensburger, Jeffrey <JRegensburger at library.ohio.gov>
Cc: lstac at omls.oregon.gov
Subject: Re: [lstac] Exemplary projects

Hi Jeff--

Compared to you, I am Scrooge in giving out Exemplary!

I think I labelled one project as Exemplary a couple of years back. It was our Early Literacy Family Engagement Calendar. We used templates from a similar project in South Carolina (also funded by LSTA) and made it our own with illustrations provided by a local artist. I considered it Exemplary because it was shared between states and it was one LSTA-funded project building on another. Since this project, we continue to re-print and have also produced a Spanish-Language version.

In the previous fiscal year, I made a project Exemplary because the rural library system partnered with the local detention center to revitalize the library collection AND provide programming. This was the first grant application we had for partnering with the local lock-up so we were pretty stoked about that. The grantees went on to assess the program and give presentations about it at the annual library association conference and nationally at PLA.

We have well over a foot of ice and snow in Maryland, it's 19 degrees, and I am dreaming of...Fort Lauderdale in April!

Cheers and warm wishes,

Mary

On Tue, Jan 27, 2026 at 11:01 AM JRegensburger--- via lstac <lstac at omls.oregon.gov<mailto:lstac at omls.oregon.gov>> wrote:
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/>

--

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Mary Rayme (she/her)
Grants Coordinator
Maryland State Library Agency
25 S. Charles Street, Suite 1310
Baltimore, MD 21201
maryp.rayme1 at maryland.gov<mailto:maryp.rayme1 at maryland.gov>
443-515-1666 (cell)

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