Idaho Commission for Libraries seeks ongoing funding for Digital Access for All Idahoans program

The Joint Finance-Appropriations Committee heard a request to add $2,500,000 in ongoing spending to the Idaho Commission for Libraries’ base budget to continue the Digital Access for All Idahoans program, a federal broadband and digital literacy grant program administered with the Idaho Broadband Office.

Brooke Dupree, budget and policy analyst with the Legislative Services Office, presented the agency’s fiscal materials and said the commission supports 850 libraries across Idaho and currently has 35.5 full‑time positions. Dupree told the committee the agency received “just over $6,000,000 for the Digital Access for All Idahoans” grant and is asking to include $2.5 million ongoing in the base because it expects additional notices of award and authority to spend the federal award through 2032. Dupree also described a $42,400 ongoing request for a broadband reimbursement tied to the Education Opportunity Resource Act (Chapter 56, Title 33, Idaho Code) that would increase reimbursements to eligible libraries.

Stephanie Bailey White, state librarian and director of the Idaho Commission for Libraries, told the committee “we were the 3rd state in the nation to receive our allocation of funds, but they didn't roll in until November.” She described subgrant rounds that will push about 80 percent of the program funds out to community organizations, school districts and community colleges; the first round produced 39 applications. Bailey White said subgrantees will hire digital navigators, provide tech support and run digital skills training, and that the commission has hired a project coordinator to manage implementation.

Committee members pressed for detail. Senator Carlson asked for an itemized accounting of how the roughly $6 million already awarded has been or will be spent and expressed concern about materials provided to children through summer reading programs. Dupree and Bailey White said the summer reading programs are funded with ESSER (Elementary and Secondary School Emergency Relief) funds that flowed into the commission’s miscellaneous revenue fund; Bailey White said the commission’s direct cash support for summer reading is small but that 107,000 children participated in library summer reading last year, a 30 percent increase over the prior year. Bailey White said the commission had received a $17,500 donation from the Scottish Rite Foundation this year to help provide paperback books as incentives and that libraries select local materials under their collection policies.

Mr. Pree, an analyst on the hearing record, clarified program flows: “this money would be appropriated for the commission in trustee and benefit payments. So they would pass it through to local libraries,” meaning federal subgrants would be distributed to local recipients and used for services such as talking‑book services and adult learning. Dupree and Bailey White agreed to provide the committee with follow‑up documentation on how subgrants and summer reading distributions are allocated.

The governor recommended the enhancements shown in the legislative budget book. Committee members debated whether to place the $2.5 million in the base as an ongoing appropriation (which some said aids predictability for libraries) or to fund it on a one‑time basis while federal awards remain active. Dupree said the department’s request is premised on receiving additional notices of award; Bailey White said uncertainty remains about the timing of future federal notices and that ongoing authority would aid planning.

The committee asked the agency to provide a more detailed accounting of past expenditures, the planned uses of funds in upcoming years, and the scoring criteria for subgrant awards. Dupree and Bailey White agreed to follow up with that documentation.