Organizing the File Room Grant | WA Secretary of State

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Organizing the File Room Grant Overview

This grant type is foundational. It will help you succeed with public records requests and support your agency’s defensible records management practices.

Lessons shared by previous grantees

Use this project as an opportunity to set up a repeatable plan and sustainable processes, not just a chance to clear out your backlog.
Start with what you know, like receipts well outside of retention.
Start small. Once I organized boxes into categories and DANs, I started with the smaller, well-organized sections. I felt more confident once I got to messier, larger piles.
Don’t be in a rush to fill those shred bins. Records set for destruction but still on premises are fair game under a PRR – but are now in bins and unsorted!

Allowable and Ineligible Expenses

Allowable Expenses include but are not limited to:

Sorting, organizing, boxing paper records
Creating records inventory, index, finding aids
Destroying non-archival records
Preparing archival records for transfer
Staffing resources
Equipment purchase and installation

Ineligible Expenses (Not Allowed) include but are not limited to:

Scanning Records
Organizing digital records
Repair or restoration of damaged records
Traveling for training
Professional cleaning of file room
Painting or other improvements to file room
External training for records management

Records Management services are provided at no cost to agencies by Archives’ Records Consultants.

Estimating Staff Time

While applicants must estimate the staff hours needed to complete the project, estimating time for a project like this can be challenging.

As a general guideline, we recommend budgeting:

40 to 80 hours for building procedures and conducting internal staff training; and
1 hour per bankers box.

While not every box will take a full hour, this estimate averages the time to complete easier boxes with those requiring more effort.

Additional Considerations:

Are all the records centrally located and under your control?
Will the project include records dating back to the beginning of your organization?
Will you need time to assemble and install shelving units and/or file cabinets?
Will your project involve relocating the records?
Will you be creating a records inventory and/or indexing the records?
Will you need time to destroy non-archival records?
Will you be preparing archival records for transfer?

Reimbursement of Staff Time

Can the Organize the File Room grant cover extra staff needed to complete your project? Yes! With some important clarifications:

The funds cannot cover existing full-time staff regular hours.
The funds cannot cover overtime hours (hours exceeding 40 hours per week) for any staff member.

What these funds support is hiring temporary staff and/or cover additional hours for existing part-time staff. The intention of this allowable expense is:

Temporary staff are hired to cover the existing staff’s normal duties. This way you, the one who knows these records and your agency best, can focus on the task of organizing the file room.
If temporary staff are hired to work directly on the organizing project, they should be supervised very closely by existing staff.

Boxes, Cabinets, and Safes

Banker boxes are available for purchase from the Records Center at approximately $4 per box before taxes. These boxes are used for records that are archival or have long retention periods (6+ years). A banker box holds an average of 2,500 sheets of pages.

Cabinets and safes purchased under this grant do not need to be fire-resistant. Due to the cost of this item, we recommend considering them as just one part of an integrated Disaster Preparedness Strategy alongside more affordable options.

Shelving for Records Storage

These considerations below will help determine the most appropriate shelving for your agency’s needs and space.

Material Type

If possible, shelving should be all metal. Plastic and wood can off-gas chemicals that damage records over time. Wood retains moisture, which can encourage mold and mildew.

Load Capacity of Floor and Shelves

One full banker box can weigh 30 pounds. Ensure the combined weight of boxes with the weight of the shelving unit is well within the load capacity for the shelf location. If load capacity is unknown, please coordinate with a structural engineer.

Height of Boxes and Shelves

Archives storage boxes are 10.75” tall. You need at least 11.25” of vertical shelf space to accommodate an Archives box. Your lowest shelf should be at least 6” off the floor to protect the records from flooding. Unless a stepladder is available, your highest shelf should be no more than 6’ off the ground.

Depth of Boxes and Shelves

Archives storage boxes measure 16.25” on their longest side. If you are accessing the shelves from one side: 18” shelf depth. If you are accessing the shelves from both sides: 36” shelf depth.

Width of Boxes and Shelves

Archives storage boxes measure 12.875” wide on their shorter (label) side. Allow for air space between boxes so that they can be moved easily. If the records get wet, they will expand significantly, and that extra space can make a difference in being able to remove the records.