2025 – 2026 LSTA Community Impact Grants

Purpose: The California State Library’s LSTA Community Impact grants opportunity helps California’s libraries respond effectively to local needs and align services with local community aspirations; support experimentation and research and development in California’s libraries; and provide training and support in grant writing and grant management for the California library community. We invite libraries and other eligible organizations to apply for funding to support local and collaborative projects that address community needs and align with community aspirations. Projects should be guided by the principles of equity, diversity, inclusion, and belonging. Projects should align with goal one of the State Library’s current LSTA Five Year Plan . We are especially interested in projects from library jurisdictions and branches of library jurisdictions that have not received LSTA funding in the last five years, and collaborative projects that represent a variety of regions, library sizes, and populations. However, we welcome applications from all California library jurisdictions, library consortia, and library-focused on-profit organizations, and on any topic and serving any group. Agencies applying for a local competitive grant and requesting $75,000 or above, and agencies applying for a collaborative competitive grant must plan to work with a project partner (in addition to the collaborative applicant group) and must have at least one project partner in place before an application is submitted. Types of Grant Opportunities Two types of grant opportunities are available: Local Competitive Grants support projects that focus on one library jurisdiction and can include projects focusing on one branch in one library jurisdiction. Collaborative Competitive Grants support projects that are implemented by three or more library jurisdictions. More information about this opportunity can be found on the California State Library's LSTA Community Impact Grants opportunity webpage. Eligible Applicants: The local grant opportunity is open to California libraries. The collaborative grant opportunity is open to California libraries, library consortia, and library-focused non-profit organizations. Non-profits not directly related to a California public library are not eligible to apply for funding. Libraries may apply for both opportunities. Please see application instructions for additional eligibility information. Eligible Geographies: Grant opportunity is limited to California. Matching Funding: Applicants are expected to contribute a local match to the grant funds in the form of a cash match and/or in-kind contributions. A match is expected, but no minimum amount is required.

• PSCDisadvantaged Communities, Libraries and Arts

• Grant guidelines

  Not yet available

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  lstagrants@library.ca.gov