State librarian outlines Digital Access plan, committee presses for details on summer reading materials

The Idaho Commission for Libraries told the Joint Finance-Appropriations Committee on an agenda item that it has begun implementing its federally funded Digital Access for All Idahoans plan and is moving to distribute money to community partners, while some lawmakers sought more detail on how funds and summer-reading materials are being used.

The agency’s budget and policy analyst, Brooke Dupree, told the committee the commission is requesting ongoing spending authority to cover a broadband reimbursement and to continue implementing a federal digital-access grant. For the plan, “42,400 ongoing for the broadband reimbursement,” she said, and she explained the request is “because the agency is currently anticipating that more libraries will be eligible to receive funding than what they have in their base available for funding.”

Why it matters: committee members said they want a clearer accounting of how federal funds will be spent and whether temporary federal programs should be rolled into the state base. Senator Carlson raised a separate concern about content offered through library summer-reading programs, saying he had “been told that . . . there’s inappropriate material being provided to children in the summer reading program.”

The nut graf: The commission says the Digital Access grant is federal IIJA funding administered through the National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA). Deputy and agency staff described a competitive subgrant process that will send most funds to local organizations; lawmakers pressed for an itemized spending plan and for documentation on the books and materials distributed in summer-reading programs.

Committee briefing and plan details Brooke Dupree, the Legislative Services Office analyst, said the commission’s consolidated fund shows a recent spike because of one-time federal relief dollars and ARPA capital projects funds. She summarized the commission’s FY26 request as including an ongoing broadband reimbursement and a request tied to a multiyear federal grant for “Digital Access for All Idahoans.” Dupree said the agency expects additional notices of award under the federal grant and requested ongoing spending authority to continue implementing the plan.

State Librarian Stephanie Bailey White, identified herself and staff and described how the program will operate. “We were the third state in the nation to receive our allocation of funds, but they didn’t roll in until November,” she told the committee, noting that the commission had only recently been able to launch subgrants. She said roughly 80% of the funds are planned to go out as subgrants to Idaho organizations — community colleges, school districts and nonprofit partners — that will hire digital navigators, provide digital-skills training and offer device access and tech support in places with gaps in connectivity or digital skills.

Implementation and oversight Bailey White described a competitive application process for subgrants with a scoring rubric. Applications are ranked by commission staff, sent to NTIA for federal review and, if approved, converted into contracts with interim and final reporting requirements. She said some funds will be used for personnel within the commission to coordinate the program and for purchasing devices that will be subgranted to local partners.

Lawmakers’ questions and follow-up requests Several committee members asked whether the commission should treat the federal grant as one-time money or make the spending ongoing in the base. Senator Grohl asked whether the $2.5 million figure being discussed could be made one-time; Dupree said making it one-time is an option for the committee. Senator Wintrow and others said making the funding ongoing provides predictability for local partners.

Senator Gregg and others asked for a retrospective and forward-looking accounting: what has been spent so far and what the commission plans for the remaining years of the grant. Dupree and Bailey White committed to follow up with more detailed spending plans and a breakdown of past expenditures and proposed uses for remaining notice-of-award funds.

Summer reading materials Committee members also asked about the libraries’ summer-reading program and who chooses the books that are distributed. Bailey White said summer-reading programming is longstanding and largely supported with minimal direct state funding: the commission provides manuals, posters and limited paperback giveaways purchased with a donation from the Scottish Rite Foundation, which this year provided about $17,500 and a book discount. She said libraries decide locally how to use giveaways and that the commission’s youth services consultant — who has a library-science degree — has been selecting the distributed paperback sets and that the commission applied selection criteria consistent with its collection-development policy.

Bailey White said the commission is “hyper conscious” of book choices and that, after a prior incident several years ago in which some material was identified as inappropriate, staff reviewed and amended policies and removed the items in question. A cochair of the committee added that the commission “was exceptionally responsive to making sure it never happened again.”

What the committee asked for next Committee members requested: (1) an itemized breakdown of the Digital Access plan’s spending and the amounts allocated to subgrants, devices, personnel and other components; (2) documentation of the selection process and titles used in summer-reading giveaways; and (3) an updated timeline and budget showing the expected notices of award and how the commission will use additional federal funding through the grant’s period of performance.

Ending The commission said it will provide follow-up materials to the committee, including a more detailed plan for how the federal funds have been spent to date and how they will be allocated in the coming years. The commission also invited committee members to contact the state librarian’s office directly for additional information.