The Pacific Library Partnership (PLP), in partnership with the California State Library, is seeking a skilled consultant with relevant library and/or evaluation experience to evaluate the California State Library LSTA current five-year program. The State Library is required to perform an evaluation of its current five-year LSTA plan which covers 2023-2027 (final evaluation report due to IMLS by March 2027).

The evaluation process must meet the guidelines established by IMLS as well as provide insights and guidance to the State Library on the progress of LSTA-funded programs and initiatives. This evaluation process will provide the California State Library the opportunity for accountability in spending federal funds and measuring the impact of its efforts to reach its goals for improving library services to Californians.

For requirements, timeline, and guidelines, please view the full RFP.

Proposal questions are due by noon on April 6, 2026. Responses to any submitted questions will be shared by noon, April 9, 2026, in this post.

Proposal due date is 4:00 p.m. on April 13, 2026. Instructions for how to submit the proposal can be found in the PDF linked above.

Questions Received as of 4/8/2026 at 9 a.m.

Q: Do you see a need for any in-person work with your team?
A: The work being performed, including meetings and interview with key stakeholders, can be done remotely. It is not foreseen that any in-person meetings or events will be required. If they are, this will be negotiated with the successful contractor.

Q: Why are the deadlines for the draft and final reports much earlier this time around compared to last time, especially since the IMLS SPR public data for FF2024 is already behind schedule and not yet approved for California?

A: The prior RFP to review the five-year plan included this timeline:

• Project work to commence by August 2021.
• Initial evaluation report draft to be submitted to the State Library by October 15, 2021.
• Final evaluation report to be submitted to the State Library by November 18, 2021.
• Evaluation report virtual presentation to be delivered by December 10, 2021 to State Library staff and selected stakeholders.

The current RFP to review the five-year plan includes this timeline:

• Project work to commence by July 2026
• Initial evaluation report draft to be submitted to the State Library by October 15, 2026
• Second draft evaluation report to be submitted to the State Library by November 19, 2026
• Final draft evaluation report virtual presentation to be delivered by December 10, 2026 to State Library staff and selected stakeholders
• Final completed report and supported documentation submitted to State Library by January 21, 2027

The deadlines for the evaluation drafts and final version are very similar to the last round. We are collecting these through Fall 2026 with the next five-year plan starting in July 2028. Last time we collected these in Fall 2021 and the next five-year plan (the current plan) began in July 2023. The current timeline actually offers an additional month, with the evaluation being due in January rather than December.

As for the FY 24-25 SPR data, we anticipate this being accepted and available ahead of the evaluation work starting.

Q: Do you anticipate the evaluation report will lack final, certified FF2025 data?

A: Similar to last time, project data for the third year of the five year plan period covered in the evaluation (in this case FY 25-26) will not get entered into the SPR system and accepted by IMLS until the evaluation process is complete. The State Library plans to provide FY 25-26 project data outside of the SPR system.

Q: Are you listing eight optional focus groups? Would these include focus groups of community members, library staff, administrators, or librarians?

A: The evaluation process shall include focus groups. Eight is the maximum number of sessions. Each session does not necessarily have to involve a different focus group. The number of sessions should be adequate to obtain the information being sought from the focus group(s) involved. Focus groups shall include external stakeholders, therefore, community members, library staff, administrators, or librarians would be applicable.