Idaho libraries push federal ‘Digital Access for All Idahoans’ funds to local subgrants; committee seeks spending details

The Idaho Commission for Libraries told the Joint Finance-Appropriations Committee on an agency budget presentation that it has begun implementing a federal Digital Access for All Idahoans grant and plans to distribute most funding through competitive subgrants to local organizations and libraries.

Brooke Dupree, budget and policy analyst with the legislative services office, told the committee the commission is requesting a $2,500,000 ongoing appropriation for the program to bring the agency base to $275,000 and to anticipate more eligible libraries and awards than the current base can cover. Dupree said the Education Opportunity Resource Act (chapter 56 of title 33, Idaho Code) authorizes library broadband reimbursements tied to the request.

Why it matters: committee members pressed the agency for details because the grant is large, federal-funded and multi-year; several lawmakers voiced concern about embedding a time-limited federal program in the state base. Committee members also raised questions about how summer reading programs are funded and curated after complaints about content.

The commission’s plan and how it will be spent

Stephanie Bailey White, state librarian and director of the Idaho Commission for Libraries, said the state was “the third state in the nation to receive our allocation of funds,” but that federal timing delayed spending until November. She told the committee 80% of the Digital Access funds are planned to flow to Idaho organizations via subgrants — community colleges, school districts and nonprofits — to…