Obama Proposes $20.3 Million Reduction in Library Funding
By Michael Kelley Feb 14, 2011President Obama delivered a budget proposal to Congress on Monday that would cut federal library funding by 9.5 percent.
Obama is requesting $242.6 million for the Institute of Museum and Library Services (IMLS), which is down from $265.9 million in FY11 (or $282.2 million if $16.3 million in earmarks is included). The Library Services and Technology Act, which IMLS administers, is budgeted for $193.2 million, down from $213.5 million.
(Obama's overall $3.73 trillion budget plan for FY12, which begins October 1, is a reduction of 2.4 percent from FY11.)
In a "congressional justification" presentation, Susan Hildreth, the newly appointed head of IMLS, defended Obama's request.
"I share the President's desire to find budget savings throughout the federal government, and I think you will find that this request is reasonable while continuing to serve the museum, library, and information service needs of the American people," she wrote.
Mamie Bittner, the deputy director of IMLS's Office of Policy, Planning, Research, and Communications, would not comment on any budget deliberations that took place between IMLS and the White House's Office of Management and Budget since OMB policy deems such discussions confidential.
About 84 percent of the library money ($161.3 million) would go to the Grants to State Library Agencies program, the largest federal program for libraries. Grants are awarded annually according to a population-based formula and are used for statewide services. States must match the grants, and they must also comply with maintenance of effort requirements, which is why states that have proposed sharply reducing their state library budgets, such as California and Texas, now find this federal funding also in danger.
The federal money also funds National Leadership Grants, Native American and Native Hawaiian Library Services Grants, and the Laura Bush 21st Century Librarian Grants.
"Rapid societal shifts are challenging museums and libraries to reinvent themselves," Hildreth wrote. "With this budget, IMLS is rigorously examining all of its grant programs, research, and leadership initiatives to ensure that every dollar is helping libraries and museums meet this challenge."
In her congressional justification, Hildreth said the IMLS will undertake new initiatives with this budget, including developing guidelines to ensure that librarians have training to help patrons use e-government applications and to help librarians assess their need for public access workstations, portable devices, and bandwidth.
American Library Association (ALA) president Roberta Stevens, however, was critical of Obama's proposal.
"We believe President Obama's request to cut funding to library services is short-sighted, when libraries are being used by millions of people every day. When we invest in them, we invest in the future of our country," she said in a statement. "We ask Congress to restore the support for America's libraries."
On December 22, Obama signed the Museum and Library Services Act of 2010 (PL 111-340), which reauthorized and modified the statutory underpinning (20 USC Chapter 72) of most IMLS activities.
The 2010 reauthorization, the first since 2003, codifies IMLS's responsibility for library data collection, which was formerly the under the authority of the National Center for Education Statistics. It also transfers to IMLS the functions of the former National Commission on Libraries and Information Science, which provided advice to the President and Congress on national and international library and information policies.
