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<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:6.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif;color:#194975">Hi Lyndsay,
<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:6.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif;color:#194975">We add this to our grant guidelines:<o:p></o:p></span></p>
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<a name="_Toc141774008"><b><span style="font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif;color:#194975">Appeal Procedure</span></b></a><b><span style="font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif;color:#194975"><o:p></o:p></span></b></p>
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<span style="font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif;color:#194975">Applicants whose projects are not awarded a grant may submit a written request for an informal, fair hearing before the State Librarian. A hearing will be held only if it is alleged that the State
Library has violated a statutory or regulatory provision in the awarding of a grant. An appeal that challenges the final evaluation score of the application will not be accepted.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif;color:#194975">We don’t have any other process or policy in place for complaints, but I know that our informal, unwritten policy is that we will answer each inquiry and respond in every case.
If you develop something, I’d be interested in seeing it. It might be a good idea to post something on our website alongside other policies.
<i>What could possibly go wrong?</i> </span><span style="font-family:"Segoe UI Emoji",sans-serif;color:#194975">😊</span><span style="font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif;color:#194975"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif;color:#194975"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif;color:#153D63;mso-ligatures:standardcontextual">Best,<br>
Maura<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:8.0pt;color:#153D63;mso-ligatures:standardcontextual"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:2.0pt"><b><span style="font-family:"Segoe UI Symbol",sans-serif;color:#0A2F41;mso-ligatures:standardcontextual">Maura Walsh, MLIS</span></b><span style="font-family:"Segoe UI Symbol",sans-serif;color:#0A2F41;mso-ligatures:standardcontextual">
(she/her/hers)<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:2.0pt"><i><span style="font-family:"Segoe UI Symbol",sans-serif;color:#0A2F41;mso-ligatures:standardcontextual">Grants Manager and LSTA Coordinator <o:p></o:p></span></i></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:2.0pt"><b><span style="color:#0A2F41;mso-ligatures:standardcontextual">New Jersey State Library</span></b><i><span style="font-family:"Segoe UI Symbol",sans-serif;color:#0A2F41;mso-ligatures:standardcontextual">
<o:p></o:p></span></i></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:2.0pt"><b><span style="font-family:"Segoe UI Symbol",sans-serif;color:#0A2F41;mso-ligatures:standardcontextual">P:<i>
</i></span></b><span style="color:#0A2F41;mso-ligatures:standardcontextual">(609) 278-2640 x136</span><b><span style="color:#0A2F41;mso-ligatures:standardcontextual"><o:p></o:p></span></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:2.0pt"><b><span style="color:#0A2F41;mso-ligatures:standardcontextual">E.
</span></b><span style="color:#194975;mso-ligatures:standardcontextual"><a href="mailto:mwalsh@njstatelib.org"><span style="color:#0563C1">mwalsh@njstatelib.org</span></a></span><span style="color:#0A2F41;mso-ligatures:standardcontextual"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:2.0pt"><b><span style="font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif;color:#0A2F41;mso-ligatures:standardcontextual">W.
</span></b><span style="color:#194975;mso-ligatures:standardcontextual"><a href="https://www.njstatelib.org/"><span style="font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif;color:#0563C1">www.njstatelib.org</span></a></span><span style="font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif;color:#0A2F41;mso-ligatures:standardcontextual">
<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:2.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif;color:#0A2F41;mso-ligatures:standardcontextual">185 West State Street<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:2.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif;color:#0A2F41;mso-ligatures:standardcontextual">P.O. Box 520, Trenton, NJ 08625<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:2.0pt"><span style="color:#0A2F41;mso-ligatures:standardcontextual"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="color:#0A2F41"><img border="0" width="212" height="85" style="width:2.2083in;height:.8854in" id="_x0000_i1026" src="cid:image001.png@01DC33A8.B31FF2D0" alt="A blue state outline and text
AI-generated content may be incorrect."><span style="mso-ligatures:standardcontextual">
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<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif;color:#194975"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:6.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif;color:#194975"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif;color:#194975"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
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<p class="MsoNormal"><b><span style="font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif">From:</span></b><span style="font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif"> lstac <lstac-bounces@omls.oregon.gov>
<b>On Behalf Of </b>Erica McCormick via lstac<br>
<b>Sent:</b> Thursday, October 2, 2025 2:07 PM<br>
<b>To:</b> Forbes, Lyndsay (BLC) <lyndsay.forbes@mass.gov>; LSTA Coordinators Listserv <lstac@omls.oregon.gov><br>
<b>Subject:</b> Re: [lstac] Complaint policies and procedures around use of Grants to States funds<o:p></o:p></span></p>
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<p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:11.0pt">Hi, Lindsay.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:11.0pt"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:11.0pt">Our agency has a protest procedure (appeals process) that we use for everything, but we highlight it for grants, including it in our NOFO and with the awards/recommendations.
<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:11.0pt"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:11.0pt">It’s part of our administrative code and can be found here:
<b><a href="https://texas-sos.appianportalsgov.com/rules-and-meetings?$locale=en_US&interface=VIEW_TAC_SUMMARY&queryAsDate=10%2F02%2F2025&recordId=216950">13 TAC §2.55</a></b>
<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:11.0pt"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:11.0pt">Use what you can.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:11.0pt"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:11.0pt">Erica <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:11.0pt"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
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<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Century Gothic",sans-serif;color:black;mso-ligatures:standardcontextual">Erica A. McCormick, MLIS<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Century Gothic",sans-serif;color:black;mso-ligatures:standardcontextual">Manager, Grants and Accreditation | Library Development & Networking
<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><b><span style="font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Century Gothic",sans-serif;color:black;mso-ligatures:standardcontextual">Texas State Library and Archives Commission
<o:p></o:p></span></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Century Gothic",sans-serif;color:black;mso-ligatures:standardcontextual">512-463-5532 | 512-701-5714 (cell) | 800-252-9386 toll-free in TX|</span><span style="font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Century Gothic",sans-serif;color:#C00000;mso-ligatures:standardcontextual">
</span><a href="www.tsl.texas.gov"><span style="font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Century Gothic",sans-serif;color:#0563C1;mso-ligatures:standardcontextual">www.tsl.texas.gov</span></a><span style="font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Century Gothic",sans-serif;color:#244061;mso-ligatures:standardcontextual"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
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<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:11.0pt"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:11.0pt"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:11.0pt"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
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<p class="MsoNormal"><b><span style="font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif">From:</span></b><span style="font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif"> lstac <<a href="mailto:lstac-bounces@omls.oregon.gov">lstac-bounces@omls.oregon.gov</a>>
<b>On Behalf Of </b>Forbes, Lyndsay (BLC) via lstac<br>
<b>Sent:</b> Thursday, October 2, 2025 12:28 PM<br>
<b>To:</b> LSTA Coordinators Listserv <<a href="mailto:lstac@omls.oregon.gov">lstac@omls.oregon.gov</a>><br>
<b>Subject:</b> [lstac] Complaint policies and procedures around use of Grants to States funds<o:p></o:p></span></p>
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<p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p>
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<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family:"Franklin Gothic Book",sans-serif;color:black">Good afternoon,<o:p></o:p></span></p>
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<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family:"Franklin Gothic Book",sans-serif;color:black"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
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<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family:"Franklin Gothic Book",sans-serif;color:black">Currently the only written policy we have around our use of Grants to States funds is for subgrants. It is essentially an appeal process for those not recommended for
funding. There is nothing outside of that for our agency. If you have any broader complaint policies you use for your G2S funds, I'd appreciate if you could pass them along. Just looking for develop something more comprehensive!<o:p></o:p></span></p>
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<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family:"Franklin Gothic Book",sans-serif;color:black"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
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<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family:"Franklin Gothic Book",sans-serif;color:black">Thank you!<o:p></o:p></span></p>
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<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family:"Franklin Gothic Book",sans-serif;color:black"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
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<span style="font-family:"Franklin Gothic Book",sans-serif">Lyndsay Forbes</span><o:p></o:p></p>
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<span style="font-family:"Franklin Gothic Book",sans-serif">Project Manager and Grants Specialist</span><o:p></o:p></p>
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<span style="font-family:"Franklin Gothic Book",sans-serif">Massachusetts Board of Library Commissioners</span><o:p></o:p></p>
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<span style="font-family:"Franklin Gothic Book",sans-serif">Office: 617-725-1860 ext. 252</span><o:p></o:p></p>
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<span style="font-family:"Franklin Gothic Book",sans-serif">Mobile: 857-488-6616</span><o:p></o:p></p>
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