Libraries Do Okay in Federal Budget

No word yet on new money for school libraries

Staff -- School Library Journal, 1/1/2000

After months of wrangling between the President and Congress, and dire predictions about deep spending cuts needed to meet budget caps, schools and public libraries actually held their own in the fiscal 2000 federal budget.

Funding for the Library Services and Technology Act will be $166.8 million, slightly more than last year. Title VI of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act will receive $380 million, up $5 million from FY 1999. Title VI is a block grant to schools, which use some 40 percent of the money on library materials, according to ALA.

There's still no final action on ESEA reauthorization, which school librarians hope will include language providing the first dedicated federal funds to school libraries in more than 20 years. The bill, introduced by Sen. Jack Reed (D-RI) in the Senate and Rep. Major Owens (D-NY) in the House, calls for up-to-date school library media resources and well-trained, certified school librarians for elementary and secondary schools.