Among the key spending items: $50 million to modernize library facilities
$35 million to work with public schools and other partners to expand broadband to hard to connect areas
$15 million to add English Language learning to the range of services offered by local library literacy programs.
“These investments help California’s libraries better meet the needs and expectations of the communities they serve. The mission of libraries is to close the opportunity gap, a central goal of the Newsom administration. Because libraries touch the lives of so many Californians – kids, at-risk families, person experiencing homelessness, veterans, elders – the stronger libraries are, the better other initiatives in the governor’s budget will succeed.”
Other additions to the budget:
Expansion of the online resources the state provides to students to include more STEAM offerings.
Modernizing the technologies available to visually impaired Californians using Braille and talking book library services offered by the Braille Institute and the State Library. The governor’s January budget includes $500,000 in annual ongoing support for operation of the Braille Institute’s library.
And a two-year pilot project to provide online tutoring services statewide to any student who needs them in English, Spanish and Mandarin.
The governor’s January budget plan included $5 million to increase early learning opportunities and afterschool academic assistance as well as $3 million to better deliver library services to those who can’t come to the physical library, often a community’s most vulnerable residents.
Under the January proposal, the state also makes an ongoing commitment to helping libraries deliver and purchase materials through the online marketplace, faster and cheaper than traditional book delivery.
Another $800,000 reinvests in a program that helps libraries provide summer meals to kids in need. (Lawmakers approved emergency legislation in April to provide an additional funding to serve meals this summer.) In 2020, libraries served nearly 300,000 meals – 10,000 more than they did in 2019 when library doors were open.
Budget funds also help defray costs for the more than 900 local libraries already connected to the same high-speed broadband network as the University of California, the state university system, community colleges, and public schools.
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, is home to the Bernard E. Witkin State Law Library and the Braille and Talking Book Library, and serves as the lead state agency for libraryrelated services throughout California.
State Library website
Source: CA. State Library
