The grant is awarded to projects that support new tools, research, and services that will be widely adopted or replicated within the field: this focus is meant to extend the benefits of federal investment.
[1] Projects that develop the role of libraries as community anchors and encourage civic and cultural engagement, facilitate lifelong learning, promote digital inclusion, and support economic vitality through programming and services.
[2] Programs that develop open source software applications used by libraries and archives across the United States to provide digital content and services.
[2] Sparks Grants are relatively small awards for swift development and evaluation of improvements in library services resulting from innovation in tools, products, or organizational practices.
Projects that successfully apply for these grants are those that investigate significant questions or issues supplementing previously completed work.