E-Rate Commitments Reach $1 Billion

Staff -- Library Journal, 2/12/1999

Another $320 million in E-rate telecommunications discounts was committed in funding letters released Feburary 10 by the Schools & Libraries Division (SLD) of the Universal Service Administrative Co. The funding in the SLD's Wave 8 lifts the total amount of E-rate funding committed to more than $1 billion. While the remaining E-rate funds are expected to be committed during February, commitment does not mean delivery, and the Council of the American Library Association during its Midwinter Meeting passed a resolution calling for an ALA task force to meet with the SLD to improve procedures. That resolution substituted for a more harshly-worded criticism, from Michael Golrick and James Casey; E-rate supporters feared ALA criticism could be used to scrap the program.