Arkansas State Library Board recommends cut in aid to local libraries to add now-ineligible ones
Arkansas State Library Board members on Friday voted to recommend a 10.39% across-the-board cut in state aid to public libraries in fiscal 2026, which starts July 1.
The recommendation would allow 20 libraries currently ineligible for state funds to receive the money. State Librarian Jennifer Chilcoat presented the proposal as one option for complying with a 2023 state appropriation bill that called for new eligibility criteria to be adopted by July 1, 2024. The current State Library appropriation act now calls for the new rules to be adopted by July 1, but the rulemaking process has been stalled for more than a year.
The board also approved $1,386,177 in fiscal 2025 fourth-quarter state aid payments to currently eligible libraries.
Friday marked the last meeting of the Library Board's current members, and it will be up to a new seven-member board to decide this summer whether to follow the recommended reduction in funds. The cut is necessary to stay within the State Library's fiscal 2026 appropriation, Chilcoat said.
Act 903 of 2025 ends the terms of the current board members and requires Gov. Sarah Huckabee Sanders to appoint new members in August.
The board's next quarterly meeting would fall in August, which would also be when the board typically awards the first-quarter state aid payments to eligible libraries.
Current eligibility standards for state aid require public libraries to be supported by a one-mill county or city property tax. Language in the 2023 State Library appropriation bill, and each subsequent year's appropriation, calls on the board to establish new rules that 'allow a public library to adequately demonstrate a source of revenue in lieu of the requirement to maintain a one-mill county or city property tax.'
Chilcoat told board members Friday that her proposal would allow the agency to comply with that language in the absence of the new eligibility rules and stay within its $5,641,919 appropriation for fiscal 2026. The 10.39% cut would be a one-time distribution formula, she said, totaling $5,641,180.
Chilcoat also presented another proposal, which would eliminate the $18,000 awarded to library directors who hold master's of library science degrees, but said she preferred the across-the-board cut as 'more fair' to everyone, especially smaller libraries.
Either proposal would include 20 libraries not currently eligible for state aid, 11 of them in Benton County, where libraries tend to be local and supported by their local governments, Chilcoat said.
Another library on that list is the one in Ash Flat. Republican Sen. John Payton of Wilburn specifically mentioned that library when he proposed adding language to the 2023 State Library appropriation bill to revamp the eligibility rules.
Payton said he wanted to help constituents in Ash Flat, which has a population of just over 1,100 and a library funded by the city government.
'We want [libraries] to receive local support,' Payton told a Joint Budget subcommittee at the time. 'We don't want them dependent on the grants and aid that might come through the State Library system, but it's impossible for them to pass and maintain one mill if they're a city of less than 5,000.'
Eligibility for state aid would also allow the Ash Flat Library to apply for state and federal grants it currently cannot access, Terry Hill, chairman of the library's governing board, told the Advocate.
Five of the board's seven members attended Friday's meeting virtually: Chairwoman Deborah Knox of Mountain Home, Jo Ann Campbell of Fort Smith, Pamela Meridith of Cherokee Village, Shari Bales of Hot Springs and Sydney McKenzie of Rogers. Only Lupe Peña de Martinez of Mabelvale attended in person.
The board's most controversial member, former state senator Jason Rapert, was not present. Rapert, founder of a national Christian organization of state legislators, has repeatedly called for depriving funds to libraries that have 'sexually explicit' books where children can see them as well as libraries affiliated with the American Library Association. He's also called for defunding libraries that sued the state over Act 372 of 2023.
Rapert supported legislative efforts this year to change or eliminate the State Library Board.
Advocate reporter Tess Vrbin contributed to this story.
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