Funding: Light at the End of Tunnel For Connecticut Libraries Program May Come. It Costs $140,000

From the Hartford Courant:

A proposed 20% cut in a state program that lets library patrons check out books from public libraries beyond their own town or city has been restored by the General Assembly’s Appropriations Committee, an official of the Connecticut State Library said Monday.

Dawn La Valle, the director of the Division of Library Development, said in an email that the committee has restored $140,000 for the 50-year-old borrowIT CT program in its budget proposal.

“We are cautiously optimistic that borrowIT CT will be funded at [the] current level,’’ she said.

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The program, established in 1974 and originally known as Connecticard, has enabled libraries to loan more than 156 million items over the past 50 years, according to data from the state. A total of 191 public libraries participate in borrowIT CT.

When the Willington Public Library doesn’t have a particular book available, library director Steve Osier encourages patrons to check it out from another library through borrowIT CT.

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Erin Dummeyer, the president of the Connecticut Library Association and director of the Mark Twain Library in Redding, said that Connecticut already ranks low in state funding for public libraries compared to other states.

Dummeyer said funding has remained flat in recent years even as the costs of books and other materials has increased, putting extra strain on the library budgets. She added that despite these challenges, demand for borrowIT CT has remained strong and the reimbursement money allows libraries to add services they otherwise could not afford.

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