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Committee defers action on State Library cuts after widespread local library testimony
Summary
Lawmakers deferred final action on House Bill 10‑41 after Department of Education officials and local librarians warned that deep cuts to the State Library would jeopardize interlibrary loan, digital collections and summer‑reading services for rural communities.
Lawmakers postponed final action on House Bill 10‑41, which would restructure and reduce certain State Library services, after several librarians, library association leaders and the Department of Education presented alternate plans and described program impacts.
Joseph Graves, secretary of education, told the committee the department had developed an option that would reduce the state general fund cut from about $1,030,000 to approximately $830,000 while retaining more services and reducing staff cuts from 12.5 FTE to 3.5 FTE. "Another option would be to reduce the cut to state general funds by about $200,000 which would then allow us to leverage the $1,400,000 of the federal funds," Graves said, outlining retained services and the areas that would still be reduced under the alternative.
Library advocates described concrete local impacts if services are cut. Abby Edwardson, vice president of the South Dakota Library Association, detailed the importance of the courier/interlibrary‑loan network: in 2023 public libraries recorded 45,130 items borrowed via interlibrary loan and 36,480 loaned. She warned that without the courier, small libraries would face unaffordable postal costs—roughly $5 per package one way—threatening the ability to share materials statewide.
Multiple rural library directors and board members testified that the State Library’s subsidized digital collections (including the Libby/OverDrive consortium), summer‑reading program materials and professional development are central to small libraries’ ability to serve patrons. One library board member said her small library recorded more than 6,200 visits last year and credited the State Library’s programs for enabling robust summer programming.
Committee members adopted Amendment 10‑41A (a placeholder $100 allocation to keep the bill alive while agencies refine language) and deferred final action to a later session, asking DOE and stakeholders to provide more detailed database use and cost information for committee review.
No final vote on the underlying structural changes was taken; the committee requested follow‑up documentation and planned to revisit the bill.
