The following points were prepared by Elaine Keefe, the lobbyist for MLA and MEMO. She has used them in her discussions with House and Senate leadership regarding the proposed change in Senate language shifting the Library Legacy funds to the State Arts Board.
- Libraries across the state are struggling to meet heavy demand for library services while coping with reduced budgets and smaller staffs. They can't afford to divert staff time to writing competitive grant applications.
- A competitive grant program will put small rural libraries at a significant disadvantage. The current distribution method ensures that libraries in all parts of the state get a share of the funds.
- Even some of our larger library systems cannot devote staff time to writing grant applications. Both the Anoka County and Dakota County library systems told me that if this becomes a competitive grant program they will not apply because they cannot afford the staff time. The director of the Kitchigami Regional Library System (serving Beltrami, Hubbard, Cass, Crow Wing and Hubbard Counties) wrote," KRLS does not have the staff to write unsuccessful grant applications for the wide range of relatively small cost individual region wide and local library programs that we held in the last biennium. I would have no choice but to recommend to the board that we bow out of this."
- In the past two years the regional libraries provided many micro grants to many of their libraries. For example, the regional library system in the metro area estimates that "50% of our contracts per individual program are $250 or less, 30% are $300-500, 15% are $500-1,000 and 5% over $1,000." It would not be cost-effective for them to apply to the State Arts Board for such small amounts.
- A competitive grant program will raise administrative costs both for the state and for libraries.
- There will be no legacy funded programs in libraries for several months, perhaps even a year, while the Arts Board develops criteria for the grants, establishes an application process, evaluates the applications and awards the grants.