DATE: 10/15/2025
TO: Honorable Mayor and City Council Members
FROM: Community Services Department
2025-399
REQUEST FOR CITY COUNCIL ACTION
SUBJECT:
GRANT FUNDING FROM THE CALIFORNIA STATE LIBRARY IN THE AMOUNT OF $5,000 FOR THE GROUNDWORK GRANTS PROJECT
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY:
This staff report asks the City Council to accept and appropriate the California State Library Groundwork Grant to purchase preservation supplies, equipment and hardware for the Corona Public Library’s Heritage Room. The Groundwork Grant supports emergency preparedness at California organizations that care for cultural and historic collections (such as archives, libraries, museums, and tribal nations). The total grant award for Fiscal Year 2026 is $5,000.
RECOMMENDED ACTION:
That the City Council:
a. Accept grant funding in the amount of $5,000 from the California State Library and funded by the State of California for the Corona Public Library’s Groundwork Grant. b. Authorize an appropriation and estimated revenue increase in the amount of $5,000 to the Community Services Department’s operating budget in the Library - Other Grants Fund 415.
c. Authorize the City Manager, or his designee, to increase the budget accordingly if the California State Library distributes additional funds to Groundwork Grants participants.
BACKGROUND & HISTORY:
The Groundwork Grants program is administered by the California State Library in partnership with Myriad Consulting and Training and is part of the library’s “Ready or Not:
California Cultural Heritage Disaster Preparedness Project.” The goal for the grant is to provide funds and resources to collecting institutions, prioritizing those that document underrepresented and historically excluded communities. The grant funding will be utilized for the procurement of additional materials needed for the conservation and preservation of Heritage Room documents, photos, and manuscripts. The grant also covers archival training for the Heritage Room staff and committee.
The Groundwork Grants program stems from a statewide initiative to strengthen emergency readiness for collecting institutions of all types, including nonprofits, higher education institutions, local governments, and Native American Tribal governments. The “Ready or Not: California Cultural Heritage Disaster Preparedness Project” is also working in collaboration with the Northeast Document Conservation Center, which previously provided emergency preparedness consultation services to the Corona Library for its collections.
ANALYSIS:
The Groundwork Grant is designed to address findings from the California Cultural Collections Protection Survey, which revealed a lack of disaster planning among local cultural organizations. The grant offers an opportunity to implement comprehensive longterm storage solutions, supplies for disaster response, and acquire assistance with disaster planning. The Corona Library’s Heritage Room is dedicated to preserving our local history. Due to an archival backlog, additional materials were needed to ensure the long-term preservation of the collection. Funding from the Groundwork Grant has made it possible to acquire the archival-quality supplies necessary to support this effort.
The program funding is provided by the State of California and is administered by the California State Library. The grant expenditure deadline is March 31, 2026.
FINANCIAL IMPACT:
Approval of the recommended actions will result in an appropriation and estimated revenue increase in the amount of $5,000 to the Library Services operating budget within the Library - Other Grants Fund 415 for the Groundworks Grant. These grant funds do not have a matching requirement. Grant funds must be fully expended in accordance with the City’s approved budget by March 31, 2026.
ENVIRONMENTAL ANALYSIS:
This action is exempt pursuant to Section 15061(b)(3) of the Guidelines for the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA), which states that a project is exempt from CEQA if the activity is covered by the commonsense exemption that CEQA applies only to projects that have the potential for causing a significant effect on the environment. Where it can be seen with certainty that there is no possibility that the activity in question may have a significant effect on the environment, the activity is not subject to CEQA. This action is a financial transaction between the California State Library and the City of Corona, and there is not a possibility that adopting this resolution will have a significant effect on the environment. Therefore, no environmental analysis is required.
PREPARED BY: KATHERINE BACKUS, MANAGEMENT ANALYST I
REVIEWED BY: DONNA FINCH, COMMUNITY SERVICES DIRECTOR
ATTACHMENTS:
1. Exhibit 1 – Groundwork Grants Award Document