Senate Rejects Reed Proposal

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Staff -- School Library Journal, 10/01/2003

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The Senate voted 49–47 last month against Sen. Jack Reed's (D-RI) amendment to increase funds for school libraries. The bill sought to increase money for media centers to $27.5 million for Improving Literacy Through School Libraries grants, which are a part of the No Child Left Behind Act.

The House has already approved $27.5 million for school libraries, the amount called for in the President's 2004 budget. Now both Houses must resolve their differences over funding levels, says Mary Costabile, of the American Library Association's office of government relations. Last year, federal monies for school libraries were appropriated at $12.5 million, a sum that was barely sufficient to fund about 10 percent of 1,000 grant applications.