Bush Proposes Budget Boost
Urges folding NCLIS & NCES into IMLS in 18 months
By Lynn Blumenstein & Norman Oder -- Library Journal, 3/1/2006
Despite a tight federal budget, the Bush administration has proposed a nearly five percent increase in library funding. The Library Services and Technology Act budget would be $220,855,000, an increase of $10,258,000 from FY06. The budget request for grants to state library agencies, $171,500,000 (up from $163,746,000 in FY06), would for the first time enable a new grant formula that would double the base funding from $340,000 to $680,000 for each state.
“These are strong supportive numbers from the administration,” said Emily Sheketoff, executive director of the American Library Association's Washington Office, “and I'm sure my colleagues in [the Chief Officers of State Library Agencies] will be thrilled.”
The budget request also includes $25 million for the Librarians for the 21st Century program, up from $23,760,000 in FY06; $12,930,000 for National Leadership Grants for Libraries, up from $12,375,000; and $3,675,000 for Improving Library Service to Native Americans, up from $3,638,000. Funding for administration of the library programs would rise from $7,078,000 to $7,750,000.
NCLIS to survive?
The Bush administration in 2002 proposed to eliminate the National Commission on Libraries and Information Science (NCLIS) by offering zero funding, but this year the proposal is broader: fold NCLIS, as well as the National Commission for Education Statistics (NCES) programs for public and state library statistics, into the Institute of Museum and Library Services (IMLS). The change would begin in October 2007, the start of FY08.
Trudy Bellardo Hahn, NCLIS executive director, said it would be a challenge “to do that within another agency.” Sheketoff said, “This makes a lot of sense, because IMLS really is the strongest voice within the executive branch for libraries.” She said that ALA had pressed NCES in the past to produce statistics more promptly.
Meanwhile, the administration proposed a flat FY07 budget for NCLIS, less than $1 million. Bellardo Hahn said NCLIS hoped to continue its initiatives, including health information awards and work in the area of aging.
$30M for DCPL
Bush's budget also would provide $30 million for the beleaguered District of Columbia Public Library (DCPL), which interim director Francis Buckley characterized as “a down payment” to spur further contributions. In January, a mayoral task force recommended a complete overhaul of the branches, a new central library, a revamped collection, and more, at an estimated cost of $450 million.
The library is contemplating selling the current central library, a Mies van der Rohe–designed building situated in a now-pricey location, Buckley said. The $30 million promise is “nice,” DC Library Renaissance Project spokesperson Leonard Minksy said but added that the library board is too focused on building new facilities.
