The Library & Courts II Building
January 11, 2018 - Sacramento, Calif. – Governor Brown has released his budget proposal for this year. The proposal provides more than $9.5 million for California’s public libraries, an increase from last year’s budget. It would invest $5 million to help libraries deliver services faster by connecting to the same high-speed broadband network as the University of California, the state university system, community colleges, and public schools.
Local library literacy programs would also receive a $2.5 million funding increase aimed at expanding services to the families of adult learners. With this $2.5 million, Governor Brown has more than doubled spending on library literacy programs since 2015.
The budget proposal also earmarks $1.5 million to encourage new ways of delivering books to Californians including use of online sellers, like Amazon, and digitally linking the catalogs of multiple libraries to offer Californians easy at-home access to far more information than what sits on the shelves of their community library.
“These investments by Governor Brown help libraries do an even better job of connecting Californians to what they need to thrive,” said Greg Lucas, California’s state librarian. “Every dollar spent improving public libraries returns four or five times the initial amount in social and economic benefit. And that’s particularly true of the literacy programs making stronger readers out of more Californians.”
About the State Library:
Founded in 1850, the California State Library has an extensive collection of documents from and about the state’s rich history, ranging from books, maps, miners’ diaries, newspapers, and periodicals to photographs, paintings and posters. The State Library also holds federal and state publications, and is home to the Bernard E. Witkin State Law Library, and the Braille and Talking Book Library. www.library.ca.gov
Source: CA. State Library
