Public objections stall State Library defunding bill

SIOUX FALLS, S.D. (KELO) – Countless letters from families and children were noted as one of the reasons lawmakers voted against a bill defunding the state library. 

“I did receive a lot of letters and the outpouring from the hearts of the little children were really, really special to me,” Rep. Lana Greenfield said. It was enough letters to “wallpaper her whole living room.”  

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The House Education Committee voted unanimously to send House Bill 1041, which would pull millions in state and federal funds from the state library, to the Joint Appropriation Committee with a “Do Not Pass” recommendation. 

The bill was sponsored by the chair of the House Education Committee at the request of the Department of Education.

According to Joseph Graves, the state’s Secretary of Education, funding cuts include $1.3 million in state funds and $2.4 million in federal funds. Proposed cuts would include a portion of physical archives that are now digital, two positions in the state library and scaling back other programs. 

Graves assured that priority would still go to children’s services, however, people who spoke out against the bill– mostly local librarians– were worried about how the state library would provide those resources if it was defunded. 

The state library currently funds programs like free interlibrary book loans for members, professional development for librarians, access to databases for scholarly articles, movies and research and reading education programs.

“We are vital community centers, which is why, yes, we still are buildings of books, but we’re focusing on our programs, our free and low cost programs that in small towns are often very hard to come by,” Redfield Library Director Sarah Jones-Luter said. 

Graves questioned whether these resources, programs or funding are an obligation for the state, or rather for local communities. 

Natasha Noethlich, Dolan’s library director, provided testimony about how the state library was able to save the Dolan library from going under in 2020, something the small Dolan government wouldn’t have been able to provide. 

“I cannot stress enough how valuable the state library has been to our library,” she said. “We would not be able to provide the services that we provide right now and if they go, I’m not sure how we would go forward.”

Rep. Amber Arlint believes pushing the responsibility– and the receipt– onto local communities could end up costing taxpayers more in the long run. 

“To cut services to balance our state budget just to push them on to a different set of taxes is absolutely absurd to me,” Arlint said. “I really hope that we’ll take that into consideration that we may cut it at the state level just to make Dolan and Freeman and Sioux Falls and Harrisburg then have to take on those expenses.”