Justification for Change Request

Justification for Change

3137-0071

Information Collection Request: Website form to Recruit Peer Reviewers for Library Grant Programs

IMLS is requesting a change to a previously approved clearance in order to update the State Progress Reports (SPR) Instructions and User Guides. These instructions include updated instructions language clarifications based on user experience, for system functionality in data elements like email and phone numbers, and financial reporting. This updated clearance is requesting the same expiration date of 07/31/2018.

Request abstract:

To improve how we measure the impact of the Federal investment in the Grants to States program, IMLS and State Library Administrative Agencies (SLAA) have been partnering on a comprehensive planning and evaluation initiative called “Measuring Success.” This multi-year effort is fundamentally shifting the way in which Grants to States final report information is gathered and shared, and it is improving program accountability, reporting, evaluation, and assessment. The SPR has been developed in phases, in concert with a small group of SLAAs acting as pilots for each phase. Roughly, these phases correspond to: framework and question development; descriptive reporting for the two year award (pilots first, then all states); and finally the incorporation of the performance measurement reporting. Currently, all phases have been rolled out and are reflected in this documentation. The Measuring Success initiative has driven the development of the data reporting and analysis system (database) that replaces the older State Program Report system. Submissions to the SPR encompass the final performance report, the final financial report, and the interim financial report for each SLAA’s two year award.

The new SPR development was guided by a data reporting and collection framework that balances the need for descriptive information to monitor compliance with award conditions with the need for data on performance measures to assess the impact of the public funds. By gathering project data more consistently, we are better able to compare projects within and across states and demonstrate the impact of public funds on library services. States are also able to share information about their projects both within the library community and with the public at large.

The respondent burden should remain the same or might decrease slightly with the inclusion of drop down menus and multiple choice questions instead of open text boxes.