Latest news with #StateLibraryBoard
Yahoo
09-05-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Arkansas State Library Board recommends cut in aid to local libraries to add now-ineligible ones
Arkansas State Librarian Jennifer Chilcoat (left) offers a plan for extending eligibility for state funds to more libraries during the May 9, 2025, quarterly meeting of the State Library Board. Board member Lupe Peña de Martinez listens. (Photo by Sonny Albarado/Arkansas Advocate) Arkansas State Library Board members on Friday voted to recommend a 10.39% across-the-board cut in state aid to public libraries in fiscal 2026, which starts July 1. The recommendation would allow 20 libraries currently ineligible for state funds to receive the money. State Librarian Jennifer Chilcoat presented the proposal as one option for complying with a 2023 state appropriation bill that called for new eligibility criteria to be adopted by July 1, 2024. The current State Library appropriation act now calls for the new rules to be adopted by July 1, but the rulemaking process has been stalled for more than a year. The board also approved $1,386,177 in fiscal 2025 fourth-quarter state aid payments to currently eligible libraries. Friday marked the last meeting of the Library Board's current members, and it will be up to a new seven-member board to decide this summer whether to follow the recommended reduction in funds. The cut is necessary to stay within the State Library's fiscal 2026 appropriation, Chilcoat said. Act 903 of 2025 ends the terms of the current board members and requires Gov. Sarah Huckabee Sanders to appoint new members in August. The board's next quarterly meeting would fall in August, which would also be when the board typically awards the first-quarter state aid payments to eligible libraries. Current eligibility standards for state aid require public libraries to be supported by a one-mill county or city property tax. Language in the 2023 State Library appropriation bill, and each subsequent year's appropriation, calls on the board to establish new rules that 'allow a public library to adequately demonstrate a source of revenue in lieu of the requirement to maintain a one-mill county or city property tax.' Chilcoat told board members Friday that her proposal would allow the agency to comply with that language in the absence of the new eligibility rules and stay within its $5,641,919 appropriation for fiscal 2026. The 10.39% cut would be a one-time distribution formula, she said, totaling $5,641,180. Chilcoat also presented another proposal, which would eliminate the $18,000 awarded to library directors who hold master's of library science degrees, but said she preferred the across-the-board cut as 'more fair' to everyone, especially smaller libraries. Either proposal would include 20 libraries not currently eligible for state aid, 11 of them in Benton County, where libraries tend to be local and supported by their local governments, Chilcoat said. Another library on that list is the one in Ash Flat. Republican Sen. John Payton of Wilburn specifically mentioned that library when he proposed adding language to the 2023 State Library appropriation bill to revamp the eligibility rules. Payton said he wanted to help constituents in Ash Flat, which has a population of just over 1,100 and a library funded by the city government. 'We want [libraries] to receive local support,' Payton told a Joint Budget subcommittee at the time. 'We don't want them dependent on the grants and aid that might come through the State Library system, but it's impossible for them to pass and maintain one mill if they're a city of less than 5,000.' Eligibility for state aid would also allow the Ash Flat Library to apply for state and federal grants it currently cannot access, Terry Hill, chairman of the library's governing board, told the Advocate. Five of the board's seven members attended Friday's meeting virtually: Chairwoman Deborah Knox of Mountain Home, Jo Ann Campbell of Fort Smith, Pamela Meridith of Cherokee Village, Shari Bales of Hot Springs and Sydney McKenzie of Rogers. Only Lupe Peña de Martinez of Mabelvale attended in person. The board's most controversial member, former state senator Jason Rapert, was not present. Rapert, founder of a national Christian organization of state legislators, has repeatedly called for depriving funds to libraries that have 'sexually explicit' books where children can see them as well as libraries affiliated with the American Library Association. He's also called for defunding libraries that sued the state over Act 372 of 2023. Rapert supported legislative efforts this year to change or eliminate the State Library Board. Advocate reporter Tess Vrbin contributed to this story. SUPPORT: YOU MAKE OUR WORK POSSIBLE
Yahoo
24-04-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
State Library gets money that was going to be cut
PIERRE, S.D. (KELO) — The South Dakota State Library got some unexpected good news this week. It will receive a half-year grant of about $632,000 from the federal government. That means, for at least the next six months, the State Library can continue to function much as it previously had. The email from the federal Institute for Museum and Library Services arrived on Wednesday. 'It was a surprise,' South Dakota Education Secretary Joe Graves said. President Donald Trump signed an executive order in March directing the head of that federal agency to cut operations to the 'maximum extent' allowable by law. The grant funds roughly half of the State Library's services. Last week, Graves told the state Board of Education Standards that other states had received notices that their federal funding for library operations had been cut. But on Thursday, Graves said that he and State Librarian George Seamon are now trying to determine more about how the the federal funding would be applied. DSU's Noem choice gets mixed reaction Seamon informed the State Library Board about the restoration of the federal funding during the board's final meeting Thursday. Seamon said he interpreted the email as a positive indication that the State Library will receive the second half of federal funding later this year. However, the State Library must still fulfill the down-sizing ordered by the Legislature through House Bill 1041. Because of the new law that takes effect on July 1, the State Library no longer will be allowed to provide the public with specialized library services and materials 'not generally appropriate, economical, or available in other libraries of the state.' Nor will it any longer operate a state publications distribution program for other libraries throughout South Dakota. The State Library also will stop maintaining 'appropriate collections' of library materials to supplement the collections of other libraries in the state. Nor will it serve any longer as a research and informational center for the Legislature and state government employees. The final version of the legislation, which Gov. Larry Rhoden signed into law last month, eliminates the State Library Board, too. The governor-appointed advisory group met for the last time on Thursday in Pierre. Seamon briefed the board on the transition under way to what he described as the 'new state library.' He said materials in the federal documents collection are being offered to other libraries and any unwanted ones will be disposed. Books and documents in the State Library's non-fiction collection have been offered to the State Historical Society and academic libraries, with public libraries next in line, according to Seamon. He said there might be a public sale of any of those remaining items. Restaurant owner donates 2,600 chickens to community State government documents meanwhile are being moved into an area that has been used by State Library staff. He said the State Library will continue to collect and digitize state documents. At this point, the state-document collection is closed to the public, but Seamon said that could change. The State Library plans to begin working on contracts for courier data services, according to Seamon. He said there also are plans to provide an in-person workshop in the Black Hills as well as online workshops for public and school libraries to comply with House Bill 1239. In its original version, HB 1239 threatened librarians with jail for distributing to minors any books or materials that the child's parent considered obscene. The final version of HB 1239 sets up a more moderate process. It says a local public library board or a local school board must have a policy that allows for an individual to appeal to the board to determine whether any matter or material in the library is obscene. The new law goes on to say that any determination made by the board can be appealed in court. Seamon was generally upbeat about what is now ahead for the State Library overall. 'It's exciting to be shaping something new. We want to see what we can bring from our current situation,' Seamon said. The State Library staff however will still be reduced by 3.5 positions to comply with the Legislature's direction. Then-Gov. Kristi Noem, in her December budget recommendations, called for State Library funding to be substantially cut. Noem resigned as governor in January to become the new federal Homeland Security secretary. State Library Board president Tom Nelson of Spearfish asked Seamon to describe the past few months. 'It definitely has been an emotional ride. One thing I leaned on was my team,' Seamon said. 'We've definitely leaned and cried and been emotional over a lot of things,' he continued, saying they would be 'stronger' from the experience. Seamon said he was 'saddened' by Noem's December recommendation and the legislation that followed from her administration, but he chose to help move it forward. The South Dakota Library Association fought against the original legislation and eventually went along with a compromise worked out by Secretary Graves. 'There was a huge outpouring,' Seamon said about support that lawmakers heard from librarians and the public. He recalled walking into a local restaurant to meet with some of those supporters and was met with applause. 'And that wasn't for me, that was for the State Library,' he said. Seamon praised Secretary Graves for his efforts and said it was a relief to receive the Wednesday email on federal funding. 'It's been a roller coaster, but we had a lot of support,' Seamon said. 'It's definitely been something I don't think I want to go through again.' Board president Nelson praised the South Dakota Library Association. 'They grabbed this and hit it out of the park,' he said. Nelson spoke about a letter that he had sent to Gov. Rhoden. 'From my view, this should have been studied a little bit more,' Nelson said, pointing out that the State Library works 'quietly and efficiently.' 'There's nothing detrimental in it. I just wanted the governor to know my thoughts,' Nelson said. The state board's vice president, Jane Norling of Beresford, said the group functioned as a sounding board and as 'a voice' for the patrons of the State Library and for small libraries throughout South Dakota. Norling acknowledged that she felt 'a little saddened' that the board would no longer be there. She agreed with Nelson's suggestion that a smaller board might work better if there should ever be another. 'It's important,' she said about the State Library's role in South Dakota. Nelson wrapped up the meeting by telling Seamon and the half-dozen staff in the back of the room, 'You guys do a great job.' Then he called 'with a little bit of sadness' for a motion to adjourn the meeting. Any objections? he asked. 'Hearing none, the State Library Board is signing out,' Nelson said. 'We're done.' The State Library staff in the back answered with a parting round of applause. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Yahoo
14-04-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Arkansas House will consider proposal to remove and replace entire State Library Board
Kristin Stuart (left) expresses opposition to Senate Bill 640, co-sponsored by Rep. Howard Beaty (right), R-Crossett, before the House Committee on State Agencies and Governmental Affairs on Monday, April 14, 2025. The bill would reconstitute the Arkansas State Library Board. (Tess Vrbin/Arkansas Advocate) An Arkansas House committee approved a proposal Monday to remove all seven members of the State Library Board and allow Gov. Sarah Huckabee Sanders to replace them later this year. Senate Bill 640 passed the Senate Thursday with support from 27 Republicans. Sen. Jonathan Dismang, R-Searcy, and Rep. Howard Beaty, R-Crossett, filed the bill late Wednesday night, less than two hours after Senate Bill 536 hit a dead end with a week left in the legislative session. Beaty was among a bipartisan group of members of the House Committee on State Agencies and Governmental Affairs to vote against SB 536. The bill would have abolished both the Arkansas State Library and its board and transferred their powers and responsibilities to the state Department of Education. Beaty told the same committee Monday that the current board should be replaced because of its 'dysfunction' and 'infighting.' Arkansas Senate approves State Library Board overhaul after dissolution bill fails 'There were legitimate concerns that were raised, and those haven't been addressed,' he said. '[It shows] the lack of consideration of what we need in this state and what our constituents are telling us.' Sen. Dan Sullivan, R-Jonesboro, filed SB 536 last month in response to the State Library Board's failure to pass two measures he requested as conditions for him to drop his promise to abolish the board. Sullivan has targeted the State Library for its affiliation with the American Library Association, which he claims is a leftist political organization, and for the board's refusal to adopt policies directing public libraries to keep certain materials out of the hands of minors. The board rejected both efforts with a 4-3 vote in March. The latter would have created nonbinding policies to protect children from 'sexually explicit' content in libraries and detached the State Library from the ALA. The three board members who supported Sullivan's requests were all Sanders appointees: former Republican state senator Jason Rapert of Conway, who moved to approve the requests; Shari Bales of Hot Springs, whom the Senate confirmed alongside Rapert; and Sydney McKenzie of Rogers, who joined the board in January and is married to GOP Rep. Brit McKenzie. Rapert has been the board's most outspoken advocate for keeping 'sexually explicit' content out of children's reach and has called for the board's abolition due to the majority's consistent refusal to back his efforts. SB 640 would require the seven new members to draw lots determining how their terms will be staggered, ending between one and seven years from when the bill becomes law. Subsequent appointees would serve seven-year terms, the current length of time board members serve. Those terms end in October every year, and Rep. Julie Mayberry reminded the committee that Sanders will be able to appoint a new board member in just a few months. The Republican lawmaker from Hensley said she would not support SB 640 because she personally knows and respects a State Library Board member. 'I know her work and her dedication to students, to families across the state is exemplary,' Mayberry said. 'There's no reason to eliminate every single position on this board.' Lupe Peña de Martinez of Mabelvale is a former principal at a public school in East End, which is in Mayberry's House district, and her term on the State Library Board is currently set to expire in 2028. At the March board meeting in which Sullivan's two requested motions failed, Peña de Martinez made a successful motion to create nonbinding policies aimed at protecting children in libraries while honoring the First Amendment and library material selection standards. All three Sanders appointees voted against the motion. Nothing in SB 640 would prevent current State Library Board members from being reappointed, said Rep. David Ray, R-Maumelle. He and other Republicans expressed support for the bill as an alternative to SB 536, particularly since SB 640 does not involve the Department of Education in the State Library's responsibilities. Lawmakers and members of the public both included this as a reason to oppose SB 536. Mayberry joined the committee's three Democrats in voting against SB 640. House Minority Leader Andrew Collins, D-Little Rock, challenged Beaty's assertion about State Library Board 'dysfunction.' 'They are continuing to have meetings [and] they are continuing to make decisions, even if they're not the decisions that some people would like,' Collins said. 'It's a functional board. It's just a board that some people disagree with.' Collins said he did not believe the Legislature should set a precedent of reconstituting state boards if some lawmakers are frustrated with them. Beaty said he disagreed and was 'not concerned in the slightest' about setting such a precedent. Kristin Stuart of Little Rock, the only audience member to speak against SB 640, agreed with Collins that the proposal is a 'power grab.' She said reconstituting the board would 'disrupt its mission' of supporting Arkansas libraries and preserving people's access to information and learning. '[SB 640 is] opening the door for political appointees who may not have the experience, objectivity or commitment to intellectual freedom that the board requires,' Stuart said. The State Library Board is scheduled to meet the second Friday in May and in August. If SB 640 passes the House this week and if Sanders signs it, it will go into effect Aug. 1, and it gives Sanders 30 days to replace the board. SUBSCRIBE: GET THE MORNING HEADLINES DELIVERED TO YOUR INBOX
Yahoo
10-04-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
House panel rejects proposal to dissolve Arkansas State Library and Board
Sen. Dan Sullivan (left), R-Jonesboro, and Rep. Wayne Long (right), R-Bradford, present to the House Committee on State Agencies and Governmental Affairs a bill they sponsored, Senate Bill 536, to abolish the Arkansas State Library on Wednesday, April 9, 2025. (Tess Vrbin/Arkansas Advocate) An Arkansas House committee Wednesday rejected a bill that would abolish the State Library and its board, making it difficult for the proposal to make it to the governor's desk by the end of the legislative session April 16. Sen. Dan Sullivan, R-Jonesboro, has repeatedly promised to dissolve the State Library Board and broadened this mission when he filed Senate Bill 536 last month. He told the House Committee on State Agencies and Governmental Affairs on Wednesday that the State Library and local libraries need more 'accountability' to the government entities that fund them. SB 536 passed the Senate last week by the slimmest possible margin. It would transfer the authorities, funds, contracts and employees of the agency and its board to the Arkansas Department of Education. The State Library is already under the department's umbrella but operates independently, and its board disburses state funds to public libraries on a quarterly basis. Education Secretary Jacob Oliva said the department is more than capable of carrying out the State Library's responsibilities, but committee members were unconvinced. Rep. Stan Berry, R-Dover, said he had 'little faith' that the department's oversight would resolve any of the issues Sullivan said he had with the State Library and its board. Arkansas Senate narrowly OKs dissolution of State Library; bill heads to House Berry and seven other committee members voted against SB 536, and five more were absent or did not vote. Seven members voted to pass the bill, including Rep. Wayne Long, R-Bradford, the bill's House sponsor, who called the State Library Board 'too big for their britches.' Long and Sullivan said they took issue with the board rejecting two motions last month to protect children in libraries and to detach from the American Library Association. At the same meeting, the board passed a separate motion aimed at protecting children in libraries while upholding the First Amendment. Conservatives statewide, including State Library Board member and former Republican state senator Jason Rapert, have called for libraries to keep children from accessing content considered inappropriate for them. SB 536 would codify several new criteria for libraries to receive state funds, including 'prohibit[ing] access to age-inappropriate materials to a person who is sixteen (16) years old or younger.' SB 536 defines 'age-inappropriate material' as 'books, media, or any other material accessible at a public library containing images or explicit and detailed descriptions' of sexual acts, sexual contact and human genitalia. Bobbie Guerra, a homeschooling mother from Lowell, said putting the Department of Education 'in direct control of public libraries would put homeschooling parents who utilize libraries as educational resources at the mercy of… what [it] deems age-appropriate.' Additionally, SB 536's language was just as 'flawed and fatal' as that of Act 372 of 2023, said Arkansas Library Association President-elect Adam Webb, referring to a Sullivan-sponsored law partially blocked in federal court that the state is appealing. The blocked sections of Act 372 would have given local elected officials the final say over whether to relocate challenged library materials some consider 'obscene' and made librarians legally liable for disseminating such materials. SB 536 does not mention 'obscenity' or 'sexually explicit' material despite its supporters routinely mentioning the latter, Webb said. 'When judges tell you, 'Here's the type of speech that you can regulate, [here's what is] sexually explicit, here are the definitions,' use it,' he said. 'Don't reinvent the wheel, but here we are again two years later with the same vague language.' SUBSCRIBE: GET THE MORNING HEADLINES DELIVERED TO YOUR INBOX Webb is also the director of the Garland County Library, and he was one of nine Arkansans who spoke against SB 536. Judy Calhoun, the recently retired director of the Southeast Arkansas Regional Library system, and Faulkner-Van Buren Regional Library director John McGraw said SB 536 created 'unfunded mandates,' such as requiring libraries to have interlibrary loan programs and to meet minimum hours of operation per year in order to receive state funds. Journalist, professor and historian Sonny Rhodes said he had a problem with the bill changing the oversight of certain historical records, which the State Library currently oversees. 'If SB 536 results in the loss or restricted access to such databases, it could hinder research efforts, making it harder to produce informed and accurate academic research,' Rhodes said. Four Arkansans spoke for the bill, including representatives of the Family Council and the all-Republican Saline County Quorum Court. All four said they struggle to attend their local libraries with the children in their families due to content they consider inappropriate and easily visible. The committee spent several minutes debating two sex education books that Greenbrier Republican Rep. Stephen Meeks, a member of the committee, challenged in 2021 with the goal of removing them from the Faulkner-Van Buren Regional Library. However, SB 536's appropriateness criteria includes a limited exception for sex education materials, which would be accessible to minors between 12 and 15 years old. Those under 12 would not be able to access such materials if their parents or guardians have forbidden their access in writing. SB 536 also puts specific higher education requirements in place for library directors. Rep. Jeremy Wooldridge, R-Marmaduke, said this provision led him to oppose the bill because every library director in his Northeast Arkansas district 'would have to be replaced.' Rep. Howard Beaty, R-Crossett, also voted against the bill and said 'both sides are going to lose.' 'Shame on y'all… I think this could have been resolved very easily,' Beaty said. 'Folks dug their heels in and decided they weren't going to negotiate.' Deputy Editor Antoinette Grajeda contributed to this article.
Yahoo
08-04-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
FOIA bill heads to Arkansas governor's desk
Sen. Clarke Tucker, D-Little Rock, questions a bill that would abolish the State Library Board and the Educational Television Commission. Photographed Feb. 13, 2025. (Mary Hennigan/Arkansas Advocate) A bill that clarifies aspects of Arkansas' public meetings law is heading to the governor's desk after it again passed the Senate by a wide margin on Monday. The bill specifies what members of city councils, quorum courts or school boards could discuss outside of a public meeting and would also allow a court to nullify any decisions made by a public body if it was in violation of open meetings laws. Senate Bill 227, sponsored by Sen. Clarke Tucker, D-Little Rock, had already passed the Senate once, but the addition of co-sponsors when it was being considered in the House required another vote by the upper chamber. Senators voted 34-1 in favor of passage; more senators voted yes in the second vote, including Sen. Alan Clark, who voted against Tucker's bill when it first passed the Senate last month. Clark introduced his own amendments to the state's Freedom of Information Act that would have defined a public meeting as 'more than two' members of a public body – a change from the current status quo. That bill, Senate Bill 376, has been waiting to be heard in the House State Agencies and Governmental Affairs committee, and Clark voted against Tucker's bill the first time it went before the chamber. Only Sen. John Payton, R-Wilburn, voted no during Monday's vote. The current FOIA does not define the number of people needed for a meeting to qualify as public, but has generally been interpreted to mean a meeting where at least two members of a governing body get together. Tucker's bill, if signed into law, would make that more explicit. Tucker's bill has support from FOIA advocates around the state. The president of the Arkansas Press Association, Andrew Bagley, called Tucker's bill 'a very good piece of legislation' during a committee meeting March 12. The Arkansas Freedom of Information Act gives Arkansans broad access to public records, such as emails sent between state officials and documents used in the course of government action. The law also establishes access to public meetings by members of the public, although the vague language governing this access has led to multiple instances of litigation as local governments ran afoul of the sunshine provisions. SUBSCRIBE: GET THE MORNING HEADLINES DELIVERED TO YOUR INBOX
