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Minitex, eLibrary Minnesota and regional systems describe high digital use and funding pressures
Summary
Minitex and regional library directors told the Education Finance Committee that statewide digital collections, interlibrary loan and cooperative purchasing underpin Minnesota’s library services but face rising subscription costs. Witnesses urged continued or increased funding for eLibrary Minnesota and regional system support.
Minitex and regional library leaders told the Senate Education Finance Committee that Minnesota’s cooperative library infrastructure — including interlibrary loan, statewide digital databases (eLibrary Minnesota), and cooperative purchasing — is widely used and under financial pressure from rising subscription costs.
"Minitex is a program of the Office of Higher Education housed at the University of Minnesota Libraries," Maggie Snow, director of Minitex, told the committee. She detailed Minitex services including MNLINK interlibrary loan, statewide delivery, digital collections and cooperative purchasing agreements with vendors.
Why it matters: Minitex aggregates resources and negotiating power for academic, public and school libraries. Snow reported Minitex receives about $1,400,000 in federal funding through the LSTA grants-to-states program administered by State Library Services, and she…
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