Application deadline: September 1, 2023. The regional fund for restoration and acquisition for libraries of local authorities, known as FRRAB, allows the State - DRAC Grand Est and the Grand Est Region to coordinate their support for local authorities' policy of enriching, preserving or safeguarding the heritage holdings of their libraries and media centres.

Recipients of the aid

Public libraries of local authorities in the Great East.

Eligible projects

The FRRAB is intended to subsidize the purchase of documents which, by their value, are part of the heritage of the region.

These acquisitions must allow:

- to supplement existing collections of ancient, rare or precious documents, objects of written and graphic heritage;
- develop the funds in line with their regional or local specificity;
- ensure entry into public collections of contemporary documents (books on bibliophilia, contemporary art binding, manuscripts and correspondence of authors, iconographic documents produced by local artists, etc.).

The FRRAB can also subsidize actions for restoration, preventive conservation or preservation of heritage collections. These operations may be part of a large multi-annual programme or respond to an emergency situation. One-off operations are not eligible and are part of the normal operation of an institution. 

The Grand Est Region reserves the possibility to finance, on an exceptional basis, the acquisition policy of the BNUS.

A regional committee

The FRRAB is managed by a regional committee composed of regional elected representatives, representatives of the State and qualified persons, which gives an opinion on the allocation of grants solicited for the purchase and restoration of documents, after consulting the Heritage Office of the Book and Reading Service on the acquisition or assent of the Technical Committee (CTR) on the restoration carried out.

Amount of subsidy

Eligible expenditure is related to acquisition or restoration (including repackaging), on presentation of paid invoices, excluding fees and VAT.

The grant may not exceed 80% of the total amount excluding acquisition costs, which itself may not be less than €1,500 excluding costs.
In the case of an operation of exceptional importance exceeding the resources of the FRRAB, additional funding may be requested, in particular from the Ministry of Culture (Book and Reading Service).

Composition of the aid application package

The file must be in PDF format and titled: [YEAR] [NAME STRUCTURE] – ADMIN

The request for assistance shall contain at least the following information:

Rooms administrative and accounting structure

- The FRRAB grant application form to download at the bottom of this page;

- A written request by the elected official in charge of the community. This letter must show that the aid allocated has an incentive effect;

- A deliberation of the municipal or municipal council mentioning the policy of acquisition of heritage or restoration of the library, or an equivalent document with the same information;

Project related parts

- The request must be supported by a precise description of the document to be acquired or processed (bibliographic note, reproduction, sales catalogue extract, text explaining the interest of the document or operation with regard to the specific holdings of the library, mention of expertise, etc...);

- For the acquisition of documents under rights, the contract of assignment of rights (of monstration and reproduction) signed by the parties;

- An estimate or invoice (paid or pro forma) of the acquisition or restoration envisaged or carried out;

- Finally, the application will include an overall summary budget of expenditure and expected revenue for the acquisition(s) concerned.

In case of exceptional operation (exceeding €10,000), the intention to purchase or restore must be the subject of a letter of intent addressed to the Grand Est Region and the DRAC Grand Est prior to the purchase/commitment of the restoration. Sending a grant application or letter of intent does not constitute a grant. Only the FRRAB regional committee can decide on the principle of a subsidy. In the Greater Eastern Region, the decisions of the committee will be voted on by the elected members of the regional council.

Transmission of files 

The form to be downloaded at the bottom of this page and the detailed annexes below, must be submitted, for the 1er September 2023 latest deadline, to allow for review by the FRRAB Committee in the second half of the year.

By electronic means, at the following two addresses:

for the DRAC Grand Est
demarches.livre.lecture.drac.grandest[@]culture.gouv.fr

for the Grand Est region in : 
book[@]grandest.fr

 with email subject: FRRAB -[YEAR]--[NAME STRUCTURE]

Please prefer the use of Wetransfer for heavy documents.

Grant payment

The grant will be the subject of a single payment on presentation of a summary statement of expenditure. The subsidy will be paid either by the State, the Region or both within the limits of their annual allocation

Emergency Auction Procedure

In the event of an exceptional opportunity, the State and the Grand Est Region will be able to define, by amendment to the agreement, specific modalities to support an acquisition of exceptional scope.
 
The detailed details of the appraisal and the beneficiary’s commitments are included in the aid application file, which must be completed in the required form.

Communication

In the event of aid being granted by the Grand Est DRAC, the beneficiary undertakes to mention the financial assistance on all the communication materials produced under this action, by means of the logo of the Prefect of the region, and in the event of a typographical mention, add “With financial support from the Grand Est DRAC”. Learn more and download the logo