Foundation News Archive 2026
The Conservation Preservation Discretionary Grant Program guidelines and online grant application for 2026-2027 are now available.
The New York State Program for the Conservation and Preservation of Library Research Materials provides $500,000 each year for preserving materials in the collections of libraries, archives, historical societies, and similar agencies.
The grant awards for 2026-2027 will be limited to a minimum of $2,500 and a maximum of $45,000.
Conservation and Preservation Discretionary Grant funds have been used to support preservation activities across New York in a variety of ways. Examples of past projects include:
- Conservation treatment projects
- preservation and rehousing of architectural drawings and blueprints;
- digitizing and reformatting audio files;
- rehousing photographic negatives;
- conservation of published books from the 17- and 1800s;
- preservation microfilming of city directories; and
- rehousing of personal papers.
Find guidelines & grant information here. The online application is here. If you do not currently have a username and password to access the online application, please submit an Account Registration Form.
The due date for applications is 5 pm Wednesday, April 1st, 2026.
Please read the grant guidelines carefully before applying. For additional information go to: Conservation/Preservation Discretionary Grant Program.
Please Note: New York State has implemented a prequalification requirement for not-for-profit entities applying for grants. Proposals received from not-for-profit applicants that have not Registered and are not Prequalified in the Statewide Financial System (SFS) on the proposal due date of 5:00 p.m. on 04/01/2026 cannot be evaluated. Such proposals will be disqualified from further consideration. As this process may take up to a few weeks, it is advised that interested agencies begin this process immediately upon RFP announcement. Even if you have prequalified in the past, please be sure you have completed the necessary steps to maintain a Prequalified Status.
Questions about the program should be addressed to:
Lauren Cardinal
Conservation/Preservation Program Officer
New York State Library
Room 10B41, Cultural Education Center
Albany, NY 12230
(518) 486-4864
