Per grant agreement number #00G-LIB-ND001 between the Education and Research Consortium and the Library of Congress, the Adventure of the American Mind program is governed by three circulars issued by the Executive Office of Management and Budget.
New AAM partners are expected to be both familiar with and in compliance of these circulars. It is important to note that AAM partners should also be familiar with ERC policy and AAM Operating Procedures, and that although OMB circulars may allow a specific activity or expenditure, the ERC may not.

The circulars and their intent are as follows;

OMB A-110
(http://www.whitehouse.gov/omb/circulars/a110/a110.html)

According to the Whitehouse OMB website, circular A-110 “sets forth standards for obtaining consistency and uniformity among Federal agencies in the administration of grants to and agreements with institutions of higher education, hospitals, and other non-profit organizations.” For AAM partners, this circular translates into guidelines that govern institution certifications, budget deviations, funding period, allowable costs, equipment use and inventory, copyrights, procurement, financial and program performance monitoring, and record retention for the recipient (ERC) and sub recipients (AAM Partners).

OMB A-122
(http://www.whitehouse.gov/omb/circulars/a122/a122.html)

The Whitehouse OMB website states, “This Circular establishes principles for determining costs of grants, contracts and other agreements with non-profit organizations.” as the purpose of OMB Circular A-122. AAM partners should look to OMB A-122 to provide guidance on expenditures related to OMB’s definition of reasonable costs, advertising, public relations, equipment, salaries, benefits, supplies, travel, transportation as well as forty-nine other expenditure categories.

OMB A-133
(http://www.whitehouse.gov/omb/circulars/a133/a133.html)

OMB A-133 “sets forth standards for obtaining consistency and uniformity among Federal agencies for the audit of States, local governments, and non-profit organizations expending Federal awards.” Non federal agencies that expend more than $300,000 a year in federally awarded funds must contract an annual external auditor who will produce a report of the findings. This report is referred to as the A-133 report. Because of these requirements, this audit is traditionally performed as a standard operating procedure for nearly all intuitions of higher learning as well as public and private schools and school districts. The ERC examines these findings and retains a copy of all AAM partners’ A-133 report. New partners will be expected to provide a copy of this report once they have signed a sub-grantee agreement. A link to OMB A-133 is provided above; however your grant accounting or finance departments are probably already familiar with its requirements.

An Adventure of the American Mind is a Library of Congress funded program, administered through the ERC.
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