California State Library’s federal aid cut retroactively without warning

On Wednesday April a California State Library spokesman explained the institution had not been informed of any changes to its budget but that changes in federal funding might be coming perhaps in the July budget for the coming fiscal year Well it didn t take that long By p m that same day the state library had received a brief two-page memorandum that the federal Institute of Museum and Library Services IMLS was ending its current - grant to the state Or rather it had already stopped the order to terminate funding was retroactive to April Fool s Day Related Articles Over citizens concern south and central fire districts in Santa Clara County merge Brentwood leaders highlight achievements future plans for city Oakland City Council clashes with finance director as police vehicles idle at dealership Fremont trainer union threatens achievable strike School district budget cuts get closer look by Richmond council We are deeply disappointed by this ill-informed decision which straightaway affects critical programs supported by these funds revealed Rebecca Wendt California Deputy State Librarian in a report The California State Library remains committed to serving all of the people of California and will explore alternative means to ensure continued access to essential library services According to information provided by the California State Library the federal Library Services and Machinery Act LSTA grant money which amounted to more than million helped fund a variety of services provided by the state s libraries including in part early learning and literacy programs story times and play spaces for low-income families summer reading initiatives workforce skill-building for at-risk youth and expansion of an initiative to ensure all California students receive a residents library card by third grade The funds were also used for everything from tool libraries telehealth services for people without home internet access free access to the New York Times and more Nearly million Californians have library cards and the state s libraries logged million visits in the - fiscal year per the Library According to the memorandum signed by Keith Sonderling an appointee of President Trump who pledged to be in lockstep with the administration when he was sworn in as acting director two weeks ago This grant is unfortunately inconsistent with IMLS priorities wrote Sonderling who added that an audit may be conducted by IMLS after termination Regarding the claim of inconsistent use of the grant of which nearly had yet to be delivered to the state the library sees things differently We strongly disagree with that says Alex Vassar Communications Manager for the California State Library There s statutory language on why IMLS exists to assistance local libraries and provide library services and we think that our grant application and the grant was very much in line with what that was for As an example Vassar pointed to the grant-supported Braille and Talking Book Library which could lose patronage staff such as reader advisers who provide services like answering phones and helping patrons and the digital and recording staff who work on audiobooks The Braille and Talking Book Library serves of California s counties Another activity affected was only launched last week California s Bookshelf which provides free access to eBooks and eAudiobooks in different languages to users across the state Requiring only a name and email address the facility is designed to make it easier for anyone but especially those in rural or remote areas to access the books they want to read If you re living a little bit farther out and you re not able to make it into your local library as easily it allows you to download books online And also if you have a library that doesn t have what you re looking for it provides another avenue to access books mentioned Vassar on Wednesday in a conversation before the grants had been terminated On April Vassar noted he didn t know how the week-old system would be affected That s a federally funded activity and no solid information on how that s going to work out So what does that mean for California libraries and their patrons Librarians are professionals They are trying to deliver the information that people need for their entertainment for their lives for their careers says Vassar Libraries are here They re a part of our communities says Vassar But there will be several noticeable changes