Bush's budget proposal bleak for libraries

Citation

Fitzsimons, E. (2001), "Bush's budget proposal bleak for libraries", The Bottom Line, Vol. 14 No. 3. https://doi.org/10.1108/bl.2001.17014cab.002

Bush's budget proposal bleak for libraries

Bush's budget proposal bleak for libraries

On 9 April President George Bush released his budget proposal for fiscal year 2002, which includes some serious cuts for library services. Bush's budget would reduce Library Services and Technology Act (LSTA) funding to what Emily Sheketoff, director of ALA's Washington Office described as "an incredibly modest increase" in core library support. ALA had sought an increase in LSTA funding to $350 million. Funding for the Institute of Museum and Library Services (IMLS), which includes LSTA is reduced from last year's high of $207 million to $168 million. The National Leadership Grants programme bears the brunt of the cut, a reduction from $50 million to $11 million, targeting non-competitive grants for libraries, academic institutions, and museums, which last year totalled $39 million.

The budget completely eliminates funding for the National Commission on Libraries and Information Science (NCLIS). According to the accompanying budget narrative, "Other agencies can effectively perform the necessary functions for which the Commission has been responsible", although these agencies remain unnamed. NCLIS received $1.4 million last year.

ALA plans to support an amendment offered by Sen. Jack Reed (D-R.I.) to provide resources and professional media specialists for elementary and secondary school library media centres. http://www.ala.org/alonline/news/2001/010416.html#lsta and http://www. libraryjournal.com/articles/news/thisweek/20010416_18406.asp

The three national libraries were funded well or poorly largely according to the federal agency under which they fall. Proposed funding for the National Library of Medicine (NLM) rose from $246.4 million in 2001 to $275.7 million for 2002. NLM is part of the National Institutes for Health, an agency that was treated very well in the budget proposal. The National Center for Biotechnology, the part of NLM that deals with molecular biology databases and human genome data, received a 21 percent increase. The National Agricultural Library's (NAL) budget remained at $20.7 million, which is in keeping with an overall decline in support for the Department of Agriculture. According to NAL Public Affairs Officer Len Carey, the library will have to "continue to streamline its services and programmes". The Smithsonian Institution was accorded a $50 million increase; however, this did not reflect the budget for the Smithsonian Libraries, for which a $541,000 reduction is planned. Smithsonian Secretary Lawrence Small sees this as part of a de-emphasis on research in favour of an "expanded public impact". Smithsonian Libraries Director Nancy Gwinn suggested that the cut would mean closing three branches and cutting 12 positions. Library of Congress has requested $480.1 million, but the actual proposal will be released with budget proposals for other congressional agencies. Librarian of Congress James Billington is scheduled to testify at Senate hearings in May. http://www.ala.org/alonline/news/2001/010416.html#lsta