The Moniteau County Library is on solid ground financially, despite fears of state aid for libraries being slashed.
More than $14,000 in state funding for the library is at risk of being wiped away if a Missouri House of Representatives decision to cut funding for state libraries is approved. However, the funds only make up a small percentage of the library's total budget of more than $500,000. The Senate may restore the funding.
Moniteau County Library Director Connie Beauchamp said the library has money to weather the cut. She said the library has carried over more than $280,000 from the past three years and anticipates having more than $400,000 carryover from fiscal year 2023 into 2024, which the library intends to put toward the new building project.
"We've been pretty conservative with our spending, and we don't spend every dime we get," she said.
State funding has historically been used for the library's summer reading program, which provides programming to children and summer school students between May and July. The library typically receives some federal grant funds for the program, although Beauchamp said the library didn't apply for grants this year due to an increase in state funding. She added the state budget cuts might have a minor impact on the program.
"We have figured out we have ways that we could use supplies we have and do a lot of other things (for the summer reading program,)" she said. "This particular summer reading program ... it's not real conducive to having big crafts that everybody does. It's more, like, doing things from the heart."
Beauchamp said cuts are also a possibility on the library's building project. However, she remains optimistic the impacts there will also be minimal.
"I feel like we are pretty good stewards of money. I feel like (with) a new building, the utilities will be less," she said. "... We probably wouldn't be able to add staff, we must buy at the level we are for our materials, that's what our taxpayers are paying for. ... I'm sure we might not be able to make some of the choices that we would when we're building, and not do something as big. We might have to take the size down so we can afford the payments, but hopefully it would not affect our funding for materials and programs. That's the heart of the library."
The majority of the library's funding comes from a personal property tax levy passed by voters in November 2017, Beauchamp said. Additional state funding is distributed by the Missouri State Library, under the Secretary of State's office, and provided through three funds: state aid payments, equalization payments and the Athletes and Entertainers Tax fund. The library received more than $13,000 from the state in fiscal year 2022, and is set to receive more than $24,700 in state funding for fiscal year 2023 unless funding is interrupted.
The proposed cuts, which the House approved following legal action by library organizations and the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) over a 2022 law, would only target state aid and equalization payments, Beauchamp said. Libraries would still receive county tax revenue, Athletes and Entertainers Tax funds, and federal money -- such as funds provided through the Missouri State Library for federal Library Services and Technology Act (LSTA) grants. According to the Secretary of State website, LSTA grants are available for summer reading programs; science, technology, engineering and math (STEM) kits; and more. Beauchamp said LSTA grants also fund interlibrary loan courier programs that allow materials to be shared between libraries.
While the Moniteau County Library's budget is solid, Beauchamp fears the cuts may have a drastic impact on rural libraries across the state. However, she said, consortiums and other resources can assist libraries operating on a tight budget.
Despite smaller libraries being more likely to feel the effects of the cuts compared to their urban counterparts, Beauchamp said a cultural disconnect by urban libraries likely fueled the lawsuit that resulted in the proposed cuts.
"I think sometimes the bigger libraries do things that might not be accepted in a rural community," she said, referring to Drag Story Hour events held in libraries across the country, leaving behind a trail of controversy and -- in cases like Missouri -- political action aimed at curbing the shows some deem as inappropriate for children. "And for (the Missouri House of Representatives) to penalize us because, whether we do or we don't, it just seems incredibly unfair. And I think there's been a big outcry about it. ... I've had patrons stop (by my office) and say 'What is going on? I'm calling my representative.'"
The urban libraries and regional library systems also make up a majority of the Missouri Library Association (MLA), one of two organizations that joined the ACLU suit, Beauchamp said. The ACLU, joined by MLA and the Missouri Association of School Librarians, is challenging a 2022 law that banned materials containing sexually-explicit imagery in school libraries on grounds that the law violates the First Amendment rights of students and staff. According to an Aug. 26, 2022, Associated Press story, educators and librarians could face up to a year in jail or a $2,000 fine for violating the misdemeanor.
Rep. Willard Haley, R-Eldon, who represents Morgan and Moniteau Counties, said he joined the remainder of his party in voting to cancel state aid and equalization payments for libraries.
"Because of the lawsuit to (reinstate) 'Explicit Sexual Material' and 'Deviate Sexual Intercourse' materials, I voted to remove the $4.5 million funding for public libraries from the state's budget," he wrote in an email to the Democrat. "I do not believe tax-payer dollars should be allowed to go to libraries, as long as they are purchasing these indecent materials, which are available to all ages to see. ... I am hoping the outcry from the public will cause the Missouri Association of School Librarians and the Missouri Library Association to call on the American Civil Liberties Union to drop the lawsuit on their behalf."
Sen. Mike Bernskoetter, R-Jefferson City, said in an email to the Democrat that he intends to support restoring the funds.
"It is my understanding that the Senate Appropriations chair is planning on restoring the library funding in committee," he wrote. "Therefore when the budget bill gets to the Senate for a vote, those funds will already be restored. I will support this."
Bernskoetter added that Senators have already dealt with a flood of phone calls and emails from concerned constituents, adding that libraries play a crucial role in communities.
"I understand how important libraries are to communities," he wrote. "They provide programs and services that many people rely on. It is my hope the Senate will restore this funding and the governor will support this as well."
Beauchamp said she's optimistic the Senate will listen to its constituents and restore the funding. She urges patrons to call or write their lawmakers to persuade them to restore the funding, adding that she wrote to Haley and Bernskoetter herself. Of the two, only Bernskoetter replied, she said.
"I've sent emails (to our legislators), I figure I have a better chance at them getting it in their hands," Beauchamp said. "And just let them know that you use the library, or you see people using the library. You see big groups of kids coming to the library multiple times a day. In the summer, it's a huge service to the community."
Bernskoetter, who represents Moniteau County in the state senate, can be contacted at 573-751-2076.