California Budget Surplus May Send Millions to SchooLibraries

Staff -- School Library Journal, 7/1/1998

An economic upswing may provide the dollars needed to start repairing neglected libraries.

Library media specialists in the Golden State may have something to grin about if a portion of a state budget surplus is routed their way this year.Governor Pete Wilson has proposed that $230 million be distributed to public school districts for materials and equipment for school libraries and science labs.

With its economy now catching up to growth in other parts of the country, California calculated that it will have a $4.4 billion surplus this year, the majority of which Wilson wants to use to shrink an annual car tax, while setting aside $1 billion for public schools and colleges.At press time, the state budget was not finalized, but several key players told SLJ that they are optimistic about funding going to school libraries."I wish I were clairvoyant, but I believe we're going to get major library money," said Barbara Jeffus, School Library Consultant for the state's Department of Education.

Marian Bergeson, California Secretary for Child Development and Education, seconded Jeffus. Bipartisan support means that "it's very safe to assume that the money will be there,"she said. June 30 was the budget's deadline but the expectation was that the legislature would miss it, as it has in past years. A proposal to pit the car tax against education spending in a statewide vote in November has also been floated.

The new funding would build on $12 million that Wilson added to school library budgets in 1997 (see News, February 1997, p. 14-15). The governor's interest in school libraries seems to trace back to a steady push by California Superintendent of Instruction Delaine Eastin to rebuild them after years of budget cuts.

Because the state ranks at or near the bottom of the country for both numbers of library media specialists and collection size, Eastin said she has "been hammering on this idea for about 10 years."If funding comes through, California's 5.6 million K-12 students "will see a huge increase in the number of book titles in our schools," said Eastin. The $230 million would allow library staff to spend as much as $40 per student on print and non-print materials, compared to the less than $4 per student the state's department of education estimates was spent on books alone in 1995.

The proposed funding is also designed to support technology in school libraries. An advisory group of leaders from the California School Library Association (CSLA), staff from the state department of education, and others has stipulated that up to 20 percent of the funding may be used to buy equipment needed to access information, such as computers and wiring, said Jeffus.

Still, there are problems with California's plan that are as pleasant to contemplate as tripping into a cactus.

Some in the state's school library community fear that the funding won't make it into library budgets since the governor's proposal allows districts to divvy up the money between libraries and science labs. Companion proposals from the legislature at least earmark funds solely for school libraries: the Senate is recommending $158.5 million and the Assembly, $230 million.

To make sure the library funds are protected, CSLA lobbied a legislative committee early this summer, said CSLA President Janet Minami. And to prevent funds from escaping to classrooms, the advisory group also recommended that legislation specify that funds be used for all types of materials "circulated from or used in the library media center,"said Jeffus.

Another obstacle is how schools without full-time library media specialists (in 1995, only 15 percent of California's approximately 8,000 K-12 schools had them) will be able to effectively build new collections. Despite this, CLSA chose not to recommend that money be funneled to professional staffing. "By keeping this less controversial [in legislators' eyes], we thought we had a better chance of getting the materials funding," said Jeffus, referring to the advisory group that met to determine priorities. The staffing issue may also be premature since CLSA is just now proposing a summit to create a plan for training and staffing, she added.

Another concern is that the funding will be little more than a bandage that refuses to stick. "You can't do these things for one year,"said Eastin, referring to the possibility that funding could dry up, especially if the economy slows down. "I don't want to have just 1998 titles [on the shelves]."

Despite these obstacles, the mood is upbeat, a change for a state that has long been held up as a worst-case scenario for school libraries."It's time for us to move out of the bottom of the statistical heap," said Jeffus. (R.O.)