Idaho library officials press for continued federal digital-access funding; committee seeks details on summer-reading materials

The Joint Finance-Appropriations Committee on Thursday heard the Idaho Commission for Libraries’ fiscal 2026 budget presentation and questions about a federal digital-access grant and summer-reading materials.

Brooke Dupree, a budget and policy analyst with the Legislative Services Office, told the committee the commission is requesting $2,500,000 ongoing for the "Digital Access for All Idahoans" grant and noted the agency expects to be able to spend grant money through "02/1932." Dupree said the request would be used to continue implementing the commission’s plan in partnership with the Idaho Broadband Office.

The committee pressed for more detail about how the money would be used. "It's supposed to outline barriers to digital access and strategies to eliminate these barriers," Dupree said, summarizing the plan. She said funds would be used for personnel costs, laptops subgranted to libraries and subgrants to community organizations to support digital literacy and tech support.

The commission’s director and state librarian, Stephanie Bailey White, said the program is just beginning implementation after a delayed award. "We've launched subgrants. Those were due just a couple weeks ago. We're ranking those," Bailey White said, adding that about 80 percent of the funds are planned to go out through subgrants to Idaho organizations including community colleges and school districts. "They're going to be hiring digital navigators, beefing up digital skills, providing tech support for people in communities who don't have access to that now," she said.

Several legislators asked whether the commission should request the funding as ongoing in the state base or as one-time appropriations. Chairman Groh and other committee members said making federal funding appear in the state base can create expectations that the state will continue funding once federal money ends. Dupree and Bailey White said the commission asks for ongoing authority because the federal awards are being issued over multiple years and the agency expects further notices of award; they also offered to provide a detailed spending plan to the committee.

Lawmakers also sought details on summer-reading programs after a committee member raised concerns about material appropriateness. Bailey White described the long-standing summer-reading programs and said the commission provides "manuals and posters" and only a small amount of financial support. She said the commission received a donation this year from the Scottish Rite Foundation of $17,500 to buy paperback books as prizes. "We have 107,000 kids who participated in summer reading programs last year," she said, adding that figure was "a 30% increase over the last year's figures." When asked who selects books distributed through the program, Bailey White said the commission's youth services consultant, who has a library science degree, selects the books using criteria similar to the commission’s collection-development policy and that the commission includes a disclaimer when it mails materials to libraries.

Dupree had earlier told the committee that the Education Opportunity Resource Act ("found in chapter 56 of title 33 of Idaho Code," as summarized in the presentation) provides reimbursement to eligible libraries and that the commission seeks $42,400 ongoing for broadband reimbursement to bring the base to $275,000.

The commission agreed to follow up with more-detailed documentation requested by the committee, including an itemized plan for how digital-access funds and summer-reading distributions will be spent and distributed.

The commission’s presenters and staff offered to provide the committee with spending histories and planned uses for the remainder of the grant period.

The committee did not take a formal vote on the requests during the hearing; members asked for additional documentation to inform future budget action.