Attention Florida Kossacks, Florida Libraries Need your Help!
"Transportation and Economic Development (TED) Appropriations Conference (the House conferees) have proposed that funding for State Aid to Public Libraries be "zeroed out."". So here's the deal with this. If state aid is taken away from all public libraries in Florida, they just don't lose those funds, they also lose the ability to receive any federal funds (libraries must be receiving state aid in order to be eligible for federal funding, no ifs ands or buts to this rule).
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More after the Jump!
The reason this occurred is because the Senate and House leaders did not provide the Conference the minimum amount of funding required, $21.2 million. That amount is needed for "the Maintenance of Effort level the state is required to appropriate in order to receive federal Library Services and Technology Act (LSTA) Grant dollars, elimination of State Aid also would mean Florida would lose LSTA eligibility." - Florida Library Association.
All Florida libraries have been hurt by budget cuts within the last year. Very few of them do not rely on federal funds. The best known program is E-Rate. What it does is reimburses libraries for any expenditures they have for network infrastructure (fiber, DSL, ATM, etc.), phone lines, hardware maintenance and so on. The percentage of reimbursement is based on the school district the library is in and percentage of students in it eligible for free/reduced lunch. For example, a public library in Orange county is eligible for 80% reimbursement since it has 80% of its students eligible for free or reduced lunch. Without the library receiving any state aid, those costs would now have to be picked up the library/library system without reimbursement.
Given that Florida was one of the most hardest hit of states because of the mortgage crisis, we have a record number of foreclosures. The tax base that counties, cities, and other municipalities has decreased and will continue to do so. Bottom line, there are no additional funds for the libraries.
E-Rate is probably the most well known federal funding that libraries receive, there are grants that LSTA provides for libraries to purchase additional personnel, equipment, materials, network upgrades, training, and much more. State Aid is also used to provide all libraries funds for every dollar that is spent by the libraries. Rural libraries get more state aid funding than urban libraries. Many rural libraries would be destroyed by this decision.
Many library systems have closed branches, reduced hours, & let people go. With the closures and other reductions, areas that have these libraries have seen a steady rise in crime rates. Do libraries fight crime? No. Do libraries give people other alternatives to spend their time wisely? Yes, they do. And now the legislature is threatening this community resource across the state of Florida. To read more about how libraries change lives, click here. To Help, please contact these legislators below and ask them to fully restore funding to Transportation and Economic Development before we lose most of our libraries.
House
Larry Cretul, Speaker of the House - District includes parts of
Alachua, Levy, Marion counties. larry.cretul@myfloridahouse.gov District
(352) 873-6564 / Tallahassee (850) 488-1450
Rep. Dean Cannon - District Includes part of Orange County.
dean.cannon@myfloridahouse.gov District (407) 623-5740 / Tallahassee
(850) 488-2742
Rep. Adam Hasner - District includes parts of Broward and Palm Beach
counties. adam.hasner@myfloridahouse.gov District (561) 279-1616 /
Tallahassee (850) 488-1993
Rep. Ellyn Setnor Bogdanoff - District includes parts of Broward and
Palm Beach counties. ellyn.bogdanoff@myfloridahouse.gov District
(954) 762-3757 / Tallahassee - (850) 488-0635
Rep. Ron Reagan - District includes parts of Hillsborough, Manatee, and
Sarasota counties. ron.reagan@myfloridahouse.gov District (941) 727-
6447/ Tallahassee (850) 921-7747
Rep. Carlos Lopez-Cantera - District includes part of Miami-Dade
County. Carlos.lopez-cantera@myfloridahouse.gov District (305) 442-
6877 / Tallahassee (850) 488-4202
Senate
Jeff Atwater, Senate President - District includes parts of Broward
and Palm Beach counties. atwater.jeff.web@flsenate.gov District (561)
625-5101 / Tallahassee (850) 487-5100
Senator Alex Diaz de la Portilla - District includes part of Miami-Dade
County. portilla.alex.web@flsenate.gov District (305) 643-7200 /
Tallahassee (850) 487-5109
Senator Alex J. Villalobos - District includes part of Miami-Dade
County. villalobos.alex.web@
Time is short, thank you.
Update 1 - Even if you're out of state, you can still contact the legislators. The Florida Library Association has set up an alert & contact page here.