Get Full Government Meeting Transcripts, Videos, & Alerts Forever!
Get email alerts on the Digital Access Libraries topic
No spam. Unsubscribe anytime.
Idaho libraries seek ongoing state authority to spend federal digital-access funds
Summary
The Idaho Commission for Libraries asked the Joint Finance-Appropriations Committee to approve ongoing spending authority to implement a federal Digital Access for All Idahoans program and other grants, and answered questions about summer reading materials and how subgrants will be administered.
BOISE — The Idaho Commission for Libraries asked the Joint Finance-Appropriations Committee on Oct. 23 to approve ongoing spending authority for federal digital-access grants and other grant funding the agency plans to pass through to local libraries.
Brooke Dupree, a budget and policy analyst with the Legislative Services Office, told the committee the commission provides support to 850 libraries statewide and that the agency’s fiscal picture shows spikes in federal receipts tied to pandemic- and ARPA-era awards. The agency is requesting an ongoing appropriation of $2,500,000 to continue implementing its Digital Access for All Idahoans plan and asked that the committee allow reappropriation of ARPA capital-projects money for facility improvements.
Why it matters: Committee members said they want clearer plans and expenditure detail before treating federal grants as a permanent part of the state base. Several legislators expressed concern that once a federal program becomes familiar, there is pressure to continue funding it with state general funds when the federal money ends.
Dupree told senators the Digital Access for All Idahoans funding comes from federal IIJA/NTIA allocations administered through the Idaho broadband office and is currently available to spend through notices of award the commission expects to receive; the agency told the committee some of the program funds may be available to spend through Feb. 19, 2032, depending on future notices of award.
State librarian Stephanie Bailey White and other library staff said the digital-access plan emphasizes addressing barriers such as affordability, digital skills, device access and cybersecurity awareness. White said roughly 80% of the federal allocation is planned for subgrants to Idaho organizations, including community colleges, school districts and nonprofits, to hire digital navigators, deliver one-on-one tech support and provide device distribution.
On implementation and predictability: Committee members asked whether the $2.5 million should be requested as an ongoing appropriation or provided on a one-time basis each year. Committee analysts and the librarian said the commission can make the program more predictable for local partners if spending authority is included in the base but acknowledged the grant will end when federal awards expire. Dupree and Bailey White offered to provide the committee a detailed plan showing how funds have been spent so far and how remaining award cycles will be used.
Summer reading and book selection: Several lawmakers raised concerns about material provided in summer reading programs. Bailey White said the commission provides manuals, posters and a small number of paperback prize books (partly supported by a donation from the Scottish Rite Foundation this year) but does not run a large grant program for summer reading. She said the commission’s youth-services consultant — a librarian with an MLS — uses collection-development criteria to select those books and the commission added disclaimers when distributing them. The commission said local libraries curate their own programs and are expected to follow collection-development policies; the commission said it removed inappropriate items identified in earlier years and revised procedures to comply with state requirements.
How subgrants will be awarded: Bailey White said the competitive subgrant process uses a scoring rubric and that the commission had 39 applicants in its first round. Applications are ranked, reviewed by NTIA (the federal agency), and awardees will be required to sign contracts and submit interim and final reports. Dupree said the commission requested an additional base increase to reimburse eligible libraries under the Education Opportunity Resource Act (cited in the hearing as chapter 56 of title 33, Idaho Code) and expected that more libraries will become eligible than the current base can cover.
Follow-up: Committee members asked for a detailed accounting of how digital-access funds and summer-reading-related distributions were spent, an itemized plan for the remaining award cycles, and evidence of vendor selections and selection criteria for summer reading materials. The commission agreed to provide follow-up materials to the committee.
