Statewide Library Broadband Access Grants Manager

Purpose: The California State Library seeks to procure expertise in the continued development and execution of the High-Speed Broadband for California Libraries program, specifically the Collaborative Connectivity Grant Program. The resulting award is intended to support the administrative efforts associated with programmatic administration of the Grant Program as detailed below. As a Charter Associate of the nonprofit Corporation for Education Networking Initiatives in California (CENIC), the California State Library offers all public libraries in California the opportunity to connect to the California Research and Education Network (CalREN) and thereby obtain fast, reliable, low-cost broadband access to their communities via one of the world’s premier educational broadband networks. As part of this mission, the State Library works with a program partner that serves as the Statewide Library Broadband Access Grants Manager (“Grants Manager”). The State of California provides ongoing funding for public libraries to maintain charter memberships in CENIC, and connect to CENIC’s broadband backbone, CalREN. In 2021, the State Legislature approved $35,000,000 in one-time Broadband Access funding for the Broadband Program. The California State Library seeks a Grants Manager who will enter into an agreement with the State Library to act for three and one-half years, January 1, 2024, to June 30, 2027, as its administrative and fiscal partner for the Collaborative Connectivity Grant. , The State Library’s Collaborative Connectivity Grant is designed to cover the cost of connecting community anchor institutions (libraries, schools, telehealth or medical facilities, tribal service facilities) in underserved communities in California to affordable, fiber or fiber equivalent broadband. A minimum of two anchor institutions must collaborate to apply, with at least one of those institutions being a public library. The grant will cover the costs not covered by other federal and state programs (such as E-rate or the California Teleconnect Fund) to install fiber or fiber-equivalent broadband to each of the applicants’ eligible sites. Prospective Grants Managers must agree to be the applicant of record for the grant, disburse the funds, and be responsible for all administrative and fiscal management of the grant funds including contracts, fiscal records, reports and some operational functions. The Grants Manager shall be expected to assign dedicated staff to the project. For full Request For Application details please visit: https://www.library.ca.gov/services/to-libraries/broadband/ Eligible Applicants: Please review complete Request For Application for details: https://www.library.ca.gov/services/to-libraries/broadband/ Eligible Geographies: Applicants must be able to do business in California. Please see complete Request For Application for details: https://www.library.ca.gov/services/to-libraries/broadband/

• PSCLibraries and Arts, Science, Technology, and Research & Development

• Grant guidelines

  Not yet available

• 1
  broadband@library.ca.gov