Idaho libraries outline federal digital-access plan, request ongoing state spending authority

At a meeting of the Joint Finance‑Appropriations Committee, the Idaho Commission for Libraries described its implementation plans for a federal Digital Access for All Idahoans program and asked the Legislature to consider adding ongoing spending authority to the agency’s base to maintain services as federal awards arrive and expire.

Legislative budget analyst Brooke Dupree told the committee the commission is administering federal awards tied to the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law and related federal programs and that those funds have caused recent increases in the agency’s receipts and cash expenditures. Dupree said some earlier spikes were from ESSER funds used for summer and after‑school programming and that the commission expects additional federal notices of award tied to the digital‑access effort.

The matter matters because the commission plans to use the federal allocation to expand digital access statewide, primarily by subgranting funds to local libraries and community organizations for digital navigators, digital‑skills training, device acquisition and tech support. “We were the third state in the nation to receive our allocation of funds,” Stephanie Bailey White,…