State Library seeks staff and higher per-capita aid, highlights digitization and access programs

Lisa Aiken, director of the South Carolina State Library, told the Public Education Subcommittee of the South Carolina House that the agency is seeking staff additions and higher state aid to expand digitization, preservation and services for patrons who are blind or have print disabilities.

"We are the South Carolina State Documents Depository," Aiken said, adding that the library is "mandated to receive 15 copies of printed documents from all state agencies." She described nightly web crawlers that gather agency materials and a staff process to validate, catalog and add metadata for items that qualify as state documents.

The request to the subcommittee centers on a package of items Aiken summarized as 10 new positions aimed at historic-document preservation, expanded services for the blind and print disabled (including an additional reader advisor), and added support for DISCUS, the state’s electronic resources portal. The state library also asked the panel to increase state aid to public libraries from the current $2.50 per capita to $3.00 per capita.

Why it matters: Aiken said the state library’s digital depository and public-library support reach large numbers of residents and researchers. She reported that last year the digital depository added hundreds of thousands of items and had hundreds of thousands of page views, and that public libraries in the state recorded more than 10 million visits, circulated roughly 24 million items, held about 56,000 programs with 1.3 million attendees and logged nearly 7.9 million Wi-Fi sessions. The library distributes federal impact grants to local libraries and, Aiken said, about $350,000 in federal funds went directly to local programs this year.

Aiken highlighted a special digitization project: Works Progress Administration-era slides transcribing tombstone inscriptions. "Those represent 4,000 people buried in South Carolina at 350 historical cemeteries," she said, and noted the value for genealogical research and preservation when physical sites have deteriorated.

Committee members asked about funding risks and collection policies. In response to a question from a committee member identified as Chandra about the loss of federal grants, Aiken said federal impact grants fund outreach vehicles, book vending machines, lockers and some staff positions: "For many of our counties, they wouldn't be able to do these programs that they're working on," she said. She said some staff positions remain federally funded but noted the legislature has funded previously federal-supported talking book services staff.

On local challenges over library materials, Aiken said the state library issues guidance and sample policies but that public libraries retain local control. "The legislation is that libraries, public libraries are controlled by their board and the director is responsible for the daily operations of the library," she said. She added the state library has distributed a reconsideration-request form and guidance about labeling material for age-appropriateness and that the guidance references South Carolina state law distinguishing adults (18 and over) from minors.

Aiken described the state library’s workload and metrics: she reported adding large numbers of state documents to the digital depository last year, digitizing pages of acts and resolutions dating back to the 1910s and earlier, and recording hundreds of thousands of retrievals of state documents. She said DISCUS had about 26 million retrievals in the previous year and that talking book services increased patrons by 15 percent.

No formal votes or committee actions were taken during the briefing. Aiken said she would provide committee members with county-specific infographics in the packets and thanked local library directors who attended. The subcommittee adjourned at noon.