Bush Increases Library Funding

The Bush administration's budget for fiscal year 2003 includes $182 million for library programs, $10 million of which is reserved for a government initiative recently unveiled by First Lady Laura Bush to help recruit and train librarians nationwide. (See News, February 2002 .)

Released in early February, the new budget includes $210.7 million for the Institute of Museum and Library Services, with $182 million reserved for the Office of Library Services. That's a $13 million increase from the FY2002 budget.

Funding for school library materials, included under the recent reauthorization of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act, would be set at $12.5 million, unchanged from FY2002, when the funds were first appropriated after passage of the Reed Amendment. As of now, the money remains a competitive grant administered by the Department of Education.

However, Senator Jack Reed (D-RI), sponsor of the provision to provide funding for school library materials, is not content with the $12.5 million proposed for FY2003. He says he plans to draft a letter to the Appropriations Committee requesting more than $100 million for school libraries in FY2003. (See "Senator Reed Talks Library Funding ".) Reed says he hopes to obtain bipartisan support for the request, as well as signatures from high-profile library advocates.