[Federal Register Volume 59, Number 62 (Thursday, March 31, 1994)]
[Unknown Section]
[Page 0]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 94-7874]


[[Page Unknown]]

[Federal Register: March 31, 1994]


=======================================================================
-----------------------------------------------------------------------

UNITED STATES INFORMATION AGENCY

 

Donated Book Assistance Awards

AGENCY: United States Information Agency.

ACTION: Notice; request for proposals.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------

SUMMARY: Subject to the availability of funds, the Book Promotion 
Branch of the U.S. Information Agency will provide limited assistance 
awards to non-profit U.S. institutions and organizations in the private 
sector to administer donated books projects during FY'94. All 
interested organizations wishing to compete for awards to administer 
one or several of the following projects are invited to request 
detailed proposal guidelines. The proposals will be evaluated by a 
review panel and recommendations for awards will be based on 
professional staff assessment of relevant qualifications and compliance 
with established criteria.

DATES: Deadline for proposals: All copies must be received at the U.S. 
Information Agency by 5 p.m. Washington, DC time on May 11, 1994. Faxed 
documents will not be accepted, nor will documents postmarked on May 
11, 1994 but received at a later date. It is the responsibility of each 
grant applicant to ensure that proposals are received by the above 
deadline.
    Duration: The duration of the award will be twelve months. No funds 
may be expended until the award agreement is signed. Awards should 
begin September 1, 1994.

ADDRESSES: The original and fourteen copies of the completed 
application, including required forms, should be submitted by the 
deadline to: U.S. Information Agency, Ref: Donated Book Assistance 
Awards, Grants Management Division, E/XE, room 336, 301 4th Street, 
SW., Washington, DC 20547.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:
Interested U.S. organizations/institutions should contact Ms. Carol 
Nelson at the U.S. Information Agency, room 320, 301 4th Street, SW., 
Book Program Division, E/CBP, Washington, DC 20547, tele: (202) 619-
4895 to request detailed application packets, which include award 
criteria additional to this announcement, all necessary forms, and 
guidelines for preparing proposals, including specific budget 
preparation information.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: To be eligible for consideration an 
organization must be incorporated in the U.S. as a 501(c)(3), not-for-
profit organization as determined by the IRS, and be able to demonstate 
expertise in administering the project(s) on which it is bidding. An 
organization may apply for awards to administer more than one regional 
project. Grants awarded to eligible organizations with less than four 
years experience in conducting international exchange programs will be 
limited to $60,000.
    Pursuant to the Bureau's authorizing legislation, programs must 
maintain a non-political character and should be balanced and 
representative of the diversity of American political, social and 
cultural life.

Regional Projects

    Africa: One or more assistance awards, totaling approximately 
$69,000 for this region, will be made to a nonprofit organization(s) to 
help defray costs for distributing appropriate donated books to 
Cameroon, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Kenya, Liberia, Malawi, Namibia, Nigeria, 
South Africa, Tanzania, Uganda, Zambia, Zimbabwe and any other 
countries in sub-Sahara Africa designated by the Agency. Donated book 
shipments for this region must consist of at least 75% new materials 
and no more than 25% used materials in subject areas requested by each 
country and that are consistent with Agency guidelines. The books 
shipped to recipient countries should be in subject areas that stress 
democratic values, market oriented economics, American civilization 
with particular emphasis on American history, legal system, government, 
literature, arts, education, science and technology, foreign policy, 
TEFL and English teaching. The books will be distributed to needy 
students and teachers in secondary schools, universities, research 
centers and institutes. The award recipient, prior to the shipment of 
any books, must identify a local consignee/distributor in each 
recipient country who will be responsible for handling in-country 
logistics, processing and distribution. To ensure that books selected 
for shipment comply with requests of each recipient country, the award 
recipient must send annotated book lists in advance, including number 
of titles available in different instructional levels, to the overseas 
recipient institution(s) for selection and approval. The award 
recipient must also notify USIA (E/CBP) when shipment is made to the 
recipient country, providing all pertinent shipping information i.e. 
ETD, shipping line, vessel, size of shipment, consignee, ETA, etc.

East Asia

    One or more assistance awards, totaling approximately $12,000 for 
this region, will be made to help defray costs for distributing 
appropriate donated books to the Philippines. Donated book shipments 
for this region must consist of at least 75% new materials and no more 
than 25% used materials in subject areas requested by the recipient 
country and that are consistent with Agency guidelines. The books 
shipped to recipient countries should be in subject areas that stress 
democratic values, market oriented economics, American civilization 
with particular emphasis on American history, legal system, government, 
literature, arts, education, science and technology, foreign policy, 
TEFL and English Teaching. The books will be distributed to needy 
students and teachers in secondary schools, universities, research 
centers and institutes. Prior to the shipment of any books, the award 
recipient must identify a consignee who will be responsible for 
handling in-country processing and distribution. To ensure that books 
selected for shipment comply with requests of each recipient country, 
the award recipient must send annotated book lists in advance, 
including number of titles available in different instructional levels, 
to the overseas recipient institution(s) for selection and approval. 
The award recipient must also notify USIA (E/CBP) when shipment is made 
to the recipient country, providing all pertinent shipping information, 
i.e. ETD, Shipping line, vessel, size of shipment, consignee, ETA, etc.

Eastern Europe and the Baltic Region

    One or more assistance awards, totaling approximately $175,000 for 
this region, will be made to help defray costs for distributing 
appropriate donated books to Croatia, Macedonia, Slovenia, Poland, 
Hungary, Czech Republic, Slovak Republic, Romania, Bulgaria, Albania, 
Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania. Donated books in subject areas requested 
by each country must be distributed with funds from this award. Book 
shipments for this region must consist of at least 75% new material and 
no more than 25% used materials. The books shipped to recipient 
countries should be in subject areas that stress democratic values, 
market oriented economics, American civilization with particular 
emphasis on American history, legal system, government, literature, 
arts, education, foreign policy, TEFL, English teaching, and current 
science and technology.

    Note: Shipments containing current science and technology titles 
may not exceed 25% of the total number of books shipped to any one 
country.

    The books will be distributed to needy students and teachers in 
secondary schools, universities, research centers and institutes. Prior 
to the shipment of any books, the award recipient must identify a local 
consignee/distributor who will be responsible for handling in-country 
logistics, processing and distribution. To ensure that books selected 
for shipment comply with requests of each recipient country, the award 
recipient must send annotated book lists in advance, including number 
of titles available in different instructional levels, to the overseas 
recipient institution(s) for selection and approval. The award 
recipient must also notify USIA (E/CBP) when shipment is made to the 
recipient country, providing all pertinent shipping information, i.e. 
ETD, shipping line, vessel, size of shipment, consignee, ETA, etc.

The NIS Countries

    One or more assistance awards, totaling approximately $100,000 for 
this region, will be made to help defray costs for distributing 
appropriate donated books to Russia, Ukraine, Belarus, Kazakhstan, 
Kyrgyzstan and Uzbekistan. Donated books in subject areas requested by 
each country must be distributed with funds from this award. Book 
shipments for this region must consist of at least 75% new material and 
no more than 25% used materials. The books shipped to recipient 
countries should be in subject areas that stress democratic values, 
market oriented economics, American civilization with particular 
emphasis on American history, legal system, government, literature, 
arts, education, foreign policy, TEFL, English teaching, and current 
science and technology.

    Note: Shipments containing current science and technology titles 
may not exceed 25% of the total number of books shipped to any one 
country.

    The books will be distributed to needy students and teachers in 
secondary schools, universities, research centers and institutes. Prior 
to the shipment of any books, the award recipient must identify a local 
consignee/distributor who will be responsible for handling in-country 
logistics, processing and distribution. To ensure that books selected 
for shipment comply with requests of each recipient country, the award 
recipient must send annotated book lists in advance, including number 
of titles available in different instructional levels, to the overseas 
recipient institution(s) for selection and approval. The award 
recipient must also notify USIA (E/CBP) when shipment is made to the 
recipient country, providing all pertinent shipping information, i.e. 
ETD, shipping line, vessel, size of shipment, consignee, ETA, etc.

Review Process

    USIA will acknowledge receipt of all proposals and will review them 
for technical eligibility. Proposals will be deemed ineligible if they 
do not fully adhere to the guidelines established herein and in the 
application packet. Eligible proposals will be forwarded to panels of 
USIA officers for advisory review. All eligible proposals will also be 
reviewed by the appropriate geographic area office and the budget and 
contracts offices. Proposals may also be reviewed by the Agency's 
Office of the General Counsel. Funding decisions are at the discretion 
of the Associate Director for Educational and Cultural Affairs. Final 
technical authority for grant awards resides with USIA's contracting 
officer.

Review Criteria

    In addition to general E Bureau review criteria, technically 
eligible applications will be competitively reviewed according to the 
following criteria:

1. Procurement

--Applicant's ability to procure and ship the types of books in the 
instructional levels that are compatible with Agency guidelines and the 
needs of recipient countries.

2. Distribution

--Applicant's previous experience or demonstrated potential in 
conducting a quality controlled and high impact program in the selected 
region.
--The reliability/feasibility of the distribution network planned 
through individual contacts, public and private institutions, or 
through joint planning and coordination with USIS posts in the 
potential recipient countries/region.
--Applicant's ability to demonstrate that arrangements have been made 
in advance to handle all transportation, warehousing, processing and 
book distribution costs in the recipient country(s).
--The percentage of cost-sharing (in-kind contribution or currency 
equivalent) applicant will contribute to the program. Administrative vs 
program costs ratio.
--Applicant's ability to implement a workable reporting system to 
ensure that book transaction data is routinely transmitted to recipient 
country and Agency (e.g. aggregate number of books, annotated list of 
titles and/or packing lists, name of author, volume or edition, place 
of publication, publisher, date, shipping information, etc.) prior to 
the shipment of books.

3. Program Evaluation

--Applicant's plans for evaluating the effective administration of the 
program both in the U.S. and overseas. Applicant's ability to measure 
quality control and program impact in the recipient countries.

Notice

    The terms and conditions published in this RFP are binding and may 
not be modified by any USIA representative. Explanatory information 
provided by the Agency that contradicts published language will not be 
binding. Issuance of the RFP does not constitute an award commitment on 
the part of the Government. Final award cannot be made until funds have 
been fully appropriated by Congress, allocated and committed through 
internal USIA procedures.

Notification

    All applicants will be notified of the results of the review 
process on or about August 15, 1994. Awarded grants will be subject to 
periodic reporting and evaluation requirements.

    Dated: March 28, 1994.
Barry Fulton,
Acting Associate Director, Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs.
[FR Doc. 94-7723 Filed 3-30-94; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 8230-01-M


                     Sunshine Act Meetings






FEDERAL ELECTION COMMISSION

DATE AND TIME: Tuesday, April 5, 1994 at 10 a.m.

PLACE: 999 E Street, NW., Washington, DC (Ninth Floor).

STATUS: This meeting will be open to the public.

ITEMS TO BE DISCUSSED:

    Correction and Approval of Minutes.
    Draft Final Rule, with Explanation and Justification, in 
Response to the Petition for Rulemaking Filed by Citizens Against 
David Duke (Special Fundraising Projects and Other Use of Candidate 
Names by Unauthorized Committees).
    Legislative Recommendations--1994, tentative.
    New Confidential Filers.
    Administrative Matters.

DATE AND TIME: Tuesday, April 5, 1994 Executive Session will convene 
after the open meeting.

PLACE: 999 E Street, NW., Washington, DC.

STATUS: This meeting will be closed to the public.

ITEMS TO BE DISCUSSED:

    Compliance matters pursuant to 2 U.S.C. Sec. 437g.
    Audits conducted pursuant to 2 U.S.C. Sec. 437g, Sec. 438(b), 
and Title 26, U.S.C.
    Matters concerning participation in civil actions or proceedings 
or arbitration.
    Internal personnel rules and procedures or matters affecting a 
particular employee.

PERSON TO CONTACT FOR INFORMATION: Ron Harris, Press Officer, 
Telephone: (202) 219-4155.
Delores Hardy,

Administrative Assistant.

[FR Doc. 94-7874 Filed 3-29-94; 2:44 pm]

BILLING CODE 6715-01-M