Thursday, August 21, 2025
The New York State Archives today announced that $4.9 million has been awarded to 80 local governments, school districts, and educational institutions across the state to improve records management systems, better preserve documents, and serve the public. The Local Government Records Management Improvement Fund (LGRMIF) grants are awarded through a competitive selection process to ensure funding goes to the most impactful local records management projects.
New York State Archivist Brian Keough said, “So much of what we know about our state’s past comes from archival materials, from deeds and maps to meeting minutes and cemetery records. Preserving these documents—and modern records as well—ensures researchers, historians, educators, genealogists, students, and the public have an accurate record of our collective history and the opportunity to explore their local heritage. The LGRMIF grants provide critical support to help organizations implement strategies that safeguard these irreplaceable resources, so they remain accessible for generations to come.”
Since its inception in 1988, the program has provided over $255 million in competitive grant funds to local governments statewide. These funds support a wide variety of projects that help local governments manage paper, and increasingly, electronic records. Project categories include:
Disaster Management: Developing, testing, and implementing recovery plans to protect local government records, both hardcopy and electronic, in the event of a disaster.
Inactive Records: Improving or creating processes to manage records that are used infrequently but must be retained.
Historical Records: Preserving historical records or using local government records as teaching tools in the community and in the classroom.
Files Management: Improving or updating the systematic control of active files.
Document Conversion and Access: Digitization of records through the use of digital imaging.
Local Government Records Management Improvement Fund Grants
Awards for the LGRMIF grants range from $5,457 to $161,233. A list of Awards by County is available on the New York State Archives website.
