Libraries Get Mixed Signals in 2006

President Bush on December 30, 2005 signed into law the Labor, Health and Human Services, and Education appropriations bill, giving a $4.6 million increase this year to library programs through the Library Services and Technology Act (LSTA). The bill provides $210.6 million for LSTA, or 2.3 percent more than last year. But at the same time, the Improving Literacy Through School Libraries program was level-funded at $19.5 million, meaning federal funds for media centers will be slashed in 2006 once the one percent across-the-board cut for all non-defense programs is applied.

Under LSTA, the Laura Bush initiative, Recruitment of Librarians for the 21st Century, also gets a $1 million boost to $23.8 million. “[LSTA] was one of only a few education programs to receive an increase in funding,” says Melanie Anderson, the American Library Association’s assistant director for the Office of Government Relations, adding that although the library community should be pleased by the news, it still needs to stay active. “You want to protect the increases that these programs received, but you also want more increases for 2007.”

Total funding for the U.S. Department of Education is $55.9 billion, about $651 million less than last year. As a result, several important education programs were slashed, including $223.8 million, or 45 percent, from education technology states grants.