Legislative subcommittee hears deep dive into Montana State Library budget, programs and service cuts tied to declining MGA revenue

State Librarian Jenny Stapp told the Joint Appropriations Subcommittee, Section E, on a budget deep dive that the Montana State Library has adjusted services across programs after a sharp decline in revenue from the Montana Geospatial Information Act (MGA).

Stapp said the agency had to “put a hard stop on all the grants that had been awarded” and did not award MGA grants in FY25 to manage that funding shortfall. The presentation reviewed central services, patron and local library development services, and GIS/data programs and outlined cost drivers, outsourcing decisions and possible federal grant applications that could affect program funding.

Why it matters: the State Library administers statewide shared services—catalog systems, interlibrary courier, talking‑book circulation, digital collections and hotspot lending—that many Montana public, school and special libraries rely on for cost efficiencies. Changes in a single funding stream (MGA) have led the agency to pause grants and shift how it supports local libraries, with potential operational effects for rural and smaller libraries.

Stapp described how a fixed cost for GIS licensing was created by 2021 legislation and is allocated to agencies that use GIS software; she said the original fixed cost was set at just under $400,000 in 2021 and that the amount was reset in coordination with the budget office for the current biennium. She also said agencies with heavier utilization pay more under that allocation model.

The agency described several program‑level adjustments and…