Legislative Preparation

TLA Prepares for the 76^th Legislature

Mark Smith, director of communications for the Texas Library Association and editor of the Texas Library Journal.

From El Paso to Houston, from the Panhandle to the Rio Grande Valley, TLA members are visiting their legislators and other elected officials to make their case for increased funding for academic, school, and public library programs. The newly-formed TLA Legislative Network has identified at least one contact in every district in the state and those contacts are calling and writing their senators and representatives, making appointments, and visiting their district offices to lay out a case for increased funding for library programs.

And they may well have reason to be hopeful. Unlike previous tight-money sessions, the legislature will convene in January to decide how to spend a budget surplus estimated at over six billion (yes, that's a "b") dollars. Add to that formula a first lady with a proven support for library issues, and a governor who has made education a priority, and librarians suddenlyhave a reason to believe.

The political environment

Every legislative session has its own unique set of circumstances, priorities, and conditions. The 76^th Texas Legislature will be no different. Governor Bush's landslide victory along with his presidential prospects combine to indicate that he will be the strongest sitting governor Texas has seen for many years, one whose policies and proposals the Legislature will be eager to accommodate. And what is Governor Bush's priority? His rhetoric and his budget have placed a clear priority on education and reading.

Then there's that surplus which, even by conservative estimates, is of unprecedented proportions. For the last several sessions, the mood has been fiscal conservatism and the answer to funding requests has been, "no moneygo away." This year the response is more complex– yes there is money on the table, but collectively, various groups and state agencies have proposed 20 billion in expenditures for every 1 billion of surplus.

Selling libraries– how our issues fit in

There are four dominant themes on which TLA has built its argument for increased funding for school, public, and academic libraries. These issues happen also to be dominant themes of this legislative session. They are:

Early childhood education. With the Governor's Reading Initiative seeking a substantial increase in funding in this session, the time is now for libraries to be recognized as partners in the provision of early childhood education. It's just good sense: kids who start school reading or ready to read will have an advantage on children who do not. A growing body of research proves that the presence of a strong school library is a leading predictor of academic excellence. The public library is the only public institution in most communities that supports the intellectual development of the preschool child. Reading initiatives are wonderful, but libraries– especially public and schoo– lhave been conducting reading initiatives for the past 100 years.
Literacy and lifelong learning. We cannot afford to have Texans of any age who cannot read properly, who have significant barriers to learning, and who do not have access to adequate library service. Public and academic libraries, in particular, provide for the needs of adult learners to have access to the information they need to work effectively in this increasingly technical environment.
Economic development. The contribution libraries can make to community economic development is twofold. First, the Texas economy grows increasingly information-based each year and libraries ensure that Texans have access to the information they need to improve their job performance, get a new job, or aid the growth of their businesses. Second, libraries also enrich the cultural and educational infrastructure of communities making them more attractive for individuals, families, and businesses considering relocation.
Child health and welfare. Horrible tales of abuse and neglect brought to light by crusaders such as Judge Scott McCown of Austin will ensure that the protection of the youngest Texans be a high priority in this session. There are two ways that we can protect children. The first and most costly is intervention, but the second, more cost effective, is prevention. Libraries are an element of prevention to the extent that they contribute to the growth of positive alternatives for children and parents, build healthy communities, and contribute to family literacy, cohesion and early childhood education.

TLA is recommending programs that it believes allow legislators to make an investment in its future through creation of the Public Library Fund, funding school library materials, and building an infrastructure for information access through TexShare.

The issues

What are the issues that will drive the TLA library legislative agenda in the next session? Mainly they are appropriations issues. As librarians and library supporters visit their legislators, they are telling one story: Texas libraries, which should be a treasure trove of materials to support early childhood education, lifelong learning, literacy, economic development, and child health and welfare through information dissemination, are instead facing a crisis brought on by years of neglect. Consider these facts:

Nearly half of all materials in Texas public school libraries carry a publication date of prior to 1980
Texas public libraries rank 46^th in the nation in total public library expenditures
Only two cents of every higher education dollar in Texas is spent on the library
The state of Texas spends only 26 cents per capita on public library services
Texas public school libraries spend only about $11 per stu-dent on materials and many campuses spend nothing
Project GALILEO– a program modeled on TexShare, the Texas academic library resource sharing projectspends over $11 per student; TexShare spends only about one dollar per student.

The following initiatives are designed to address these needs:

The Texas Public Library Fund. Texas is one of only 13 states that does not provide direct aid to public libraries. TLA is supporting efforts to establish direct aid to Texas public libraries to be funded through the creation of a Texas Public Library Fund. Similar to funds that support higher education, public schools, and the arts, the Texas Public Library Fund would create, over several years, a non-expendable, permanent fund that would yield interest that would flow to public libraries. The fund would be administered by the Texas State Library and Archives Commission and would fund library materials and, once it reaches a sufficient level, public library construction. The Texas Municipal League (TML) has adopted this issue as part of its legislative agenda and given the issue its highest level of legislative priority. TLA is proposing that the Texas Public Library Fund be considered fully funded at a level of $250 million to be achieved over the next two biennia (four years).
Per pupil funding for school library materials. TLA expects that Rep. Henry Cuellar (D-Laredo) will again this session champion efforts to secure first-ever state level funding for school libraries. Rep. Cuellar sought last session to pass a rider that would have appropriated $1 per student for school library materials. Such funding– about $3.8 million per year– would not remedy the funding crisis in Texas public school libraries, but it would set an important precedent in state funding for school libraries and would signal to local districts the importance of this key force in reading excellence and academic achievement.
TexShare expansion. TexShare has made progress since it was introduced in 1993, but will never realize its potential to ensure equal access to all library materials for all students in the state without additional funding. The Texas State Library and Archives Commission (TSLAC) has requested $3.1 million to provide broader access to information for students and faculty in Texas. Further, TLA seeks to amend the TexShare statute to allow public library involvement in TexShare so that information access be extended to the general population. The price tag for this project will be at minimum $4.1 million per year. The cost of bringing public library members into TexShare will depend on the number of libraries to become involved and range of materials that are needed.
Budget of the Texas State Library and Archives Commission. The TSLAC is the only agency in state government charged to develop, coordinate, and promote library service in Texas. Its programs and services are crucial to the provision of library services to patrons of public, academic, and school libraries. Once again this session, TLA is encouraging the Texas Legislature to fully fund the agency's base budget ($21.8 million) and exceptional items (about $6 million). These exceptional items– over and above the base budget– include several key programs for Texas libraries including the expansion of TexShare (see above); $2 million per year for Read For Your Life, a program of the Texas Library System to promote reading and literacy in Texas public libraries (not to be confused with TLA's media campaign with the same name); and funding to improve the Talking Book Program which provides what is essentially public library service for the state's blind and physically handicapped population. (See excerpts from State Librarian Dr. Robert Martin's Administrator's Statement on page 167).
Amending the library districts law. In the last session, Texas became the 23rd state to permit voters to create library districts and to fund them through the appropriation of up to ¹/₂ cent of local option sales tax. The law, which has led to the creation of three such districts already, has limitations which severely limit the number of areas that may create these districts. TLA seeks to lower to 50,000 the population of counties wherein districts can be created and to allow them to be created in areas that already have city-funded library service.
Academic library purchasing issues. State purchasing laws currently hamper the ability of academic libraries to get the best price and value in library materials. TLA is seeking changes in state purchasing laws that would allow academic libraries greater flexibility in their purchasing including exemption from restrictions on prepayment from Higher Education Assistance Funds for serials purchases, the same exemptions for community colleges from bid requirements enjoyed by college and university libraries, and academic library exemptions from posting materials purchases over $25,000 for competitive bid.
Salary upgrades for librarians and archivists. TLA supports recommendations for salary increases for librarians and archivists as proposed by the State Auditor's Office as part of its proposed overall reclassification plan for all state employees. Further, TLA advocates support the increases in salaries for the State Librarian and Assistant State Librarian proposed in the Texas State Library and Archive Commission's budget request.

Go forth and lobby

This ambitious agenda of legislative activity for Texas libraries has a better than usual chance of success. But the true test of success will be if every librarian and library supporter in the state speaks up in support of these ideas with their senator and representative. This is no time to hope that your neighbors and colleagues will speak up for you and your patrons. TLA's goal is 100 percent involvement in the legislative effort this session. With it, we are virtually guaranteed of succeeding in our goal to provide librarians the tools and resources they need to serve their customers.