‘We had lots of dreams’; Idaho’s library system ends, restructures programs amid federal funding cuts | Northwest

Idaho’s libraries are preparing to end and restructure a digital access plan and the talking book service in response to the recent sudden termination of federal grants.

Idaho Board of Library Commissioners heard updates on federal funding reductions at its regular meeting Thursday.

“I’m sorry it got hard,” Board Chair Dave Mecham told commission staff at the meeting. “We had lots of dreams, and it got hard.”

Digital Access for All Idahoans

The commission has ended its nearly four-year effort to improve internet accessibility across the state following the termination of a grant from the National Telecommunications and Information Administration; the current presidential administration declared the grant, first awarded to Idaho in 2022, unconstitutional.

“On May 9, everything was canceled, and that was a pretty major initiative we’ve been undertaking,” Deputy State Librarian Dylan Baker told the board. “We were really … on the cusp of working through the subgrant process.”

The library commissioners first announced the Digital Access for All Idahoans plan in 2021, with a plan to use the federal grant to both improve access to the internet and improve the skills to navigate it confidently — the libraries focused primarily on the skills aspect of access.

Idaho had been awarded $6.3 million total, with more than $2.3 million slated to go to the first round of subgrantees that included libraries, community colleges, nonprofits and other state agencies, according to board documents.

Nearly 200,000 Idahoans were expected to be reached in 61 cities and towns in 30 counties, the board documents said.

“I suppose this isn’t a huge amount of money, when you look at the federal budget, but the amount of good that it could have done in Idaho, that’s what’s disheartening,” Mecham said.

Some of the services will continue, Baker said. The resource IdahoDigitalSkills.org and Digital Skills Library Consultant Chelsea Summerlin will continue some work. The Digital Navigator Help Line, which according to the website was “dedicated to helping Idahoans grow their digital skills,” was discontinued on May 1.

President Donald Trump announced his intention to end the grant program in a May post on Truth Social, calling the program “racist” and “illegal.” He appeared to object to the part of the Digital Equity Act that said racial minorities could be a covered population for improving access under the grant.

Other targeted populations for the program include low-income households, aging individuals, incarcerated individuals, veterans, individuals with disabilities, individuals with a language barrier and individuals who primarily reside in a rural area, according to board documents from when the plan was launched in Idaho.

The plan when it originally was announced had the support of Gov. Brad Little, the board memo said.

Little’s office did not respond to a request for comment.

“Just sitting in my local library yesterday, with all seven of the ancient computers in use all day long, it’s sad that that money is not valued by the people making these decisions,” said Board member Norma Staaf, who resides in Idaho County.

Talking Book Service

The library commission’s Talking Book Service — which is a free audiobook library for Idahoans who are unable to read standard print because of low vision, blindness, or a physical, perception, or reading disability — will continue despite a loss of funding, but will be restructured.

Around 3,200 Idahoans utilize the service, which is administered by 10 staff members.

The current presidential administration has also opted to dismantle the national Institute of Museum and Library Services — which had been providing funding for this service in Idaho.

Last month, the future of the program was in doubt, as the current year’s funding had been delayed, the Idaho Press reported. 

Idaho State Librarian Stephanie Bailey-White said Thursday that Idaho received its funding for the current fiscal year, and next year will look to partner with the Utah State Library to continue providing it in the absence of federal support.

Utah’s library system also is in partnerships with Alaska, Montana and Wyoming to provide these services as well as others for visually impaired people, such as braille materials or large-print books.

However, four of the Idaho Talking Book staff members, whose positions were supported by the Institute for Museum and Library Services, will be eliminated in September, Bailey-White said.

Bailey-White said it was “certainly a decision that’s not been made lightly.”

“Those folks have provided excellent customer service for many years, and have done a great job,” she said. “But I think the time has come to explore these other options.”

She said the large-print edition service has not been provided in Idaho since it was cut during the Great Recession in 2008, and will be revived for Idahoans under the new partnership.

Utah’s system would also provide some special recordings of locally or regionally significant books and magazines or voter information pamphlets.

The existing program had cost around $510,000 per year, according to board documents. The contract with Utah’s library system would cost $156,640. Two full-time staff members with the Idaho program would stay on: one Talking Book Service specialist and a reclassified position to act as a liaison between the Idaho library commission, Utah State Library and the National Library Service.

The new contract for the service is expected to start in mid-September.

The Idaho Commission for the Blind is the largest referral source for the service in the state, Commission Administrator Beth Cunningham told the Idaho Press in May.

“Many of the individuals using this service have a limited income and without this service would not have access to books, periodicals and other information resources,” Cunningham said in an email. ”… We think the service is very valuable for people who are blind or who have visual impairments.”