Alaska libraries promised full state funding after ‘drastic’ cuts announced

The Alaska Department of Education has pledged to fully fund libraries across Alaska after hearing widespread outrage at a surprise 73% funding cut announced last month.

Last year, 79 Alaska libraries were each awarded around $7,000 in state grants. In August, dozens of libraries were shocked to learn they would only get $1,829 each this year. Librarians in rural Alaska spoke of needing to make drastic cuts. Some even feared closing their doors permanently.

State legislators heard outcry from librarians in the following weeks, and on Wednesday, the state education department said the full funding would be paid next month.

But after they were informed of the planned cut without warning, some librarians remain unconvinced and wary. State officials have not yet answered questions about why the decision was made and then reversed.

Amy Phillips-Chan, director of Alaska State Libraries, Archives and Museums, announced the funding reduction in an Aug. 16 email to librarians. The email began: “Hope all is well and you are enjoying this special time of year filled with ripe berries, salmon fishing, and back-to-school activities.”

Phillips-Chan then said she was “excited to share news” about this year’s state library grants. The email later detailed a nearly 75% state funding cut — seven weeks into the fiscal year.

“It was very shocking in the way that such a drastic cut was delivered to us,” said Jessica Ieremia, past president of the Alaska Library Association and Sitka’s library director.

In a Friday letter, the Alaska Library Association shared comments from librarians across the state, saying they had been “blindsided.” Some warned the cuts would have led to reduced opening hours and fewer new books on shelves. Ninilchik library said it wouldn’t be able to open this winter if the cuts were not reversed. Cooper Landing’s library offered similar concerns. Kathy Morgan, a librarian in Tok, said in a Friday interview that state funding was critical.

”It’s a huge difference,” she said. “We’re entirely volunteer operated.”

Apart from books, ebooks and audiobooks, Morgan said the library was essential for Tok residents because “there’s a lot of homes in the community that don’t have internet access, and can’t get it.”

The $7,000 in annual state grants requires a local match. Volunteer hours have counted as a local contribution to collect those state funds. Morgan said the community has always contributed more than $7,000 worth of volunteer hours each year.

This year, Morgan said she bought $400 worth of new chairs and spent $4,000 on new books assuming the library would be fully funded. Tok Community Library’s annual budget is around $20,000, meaning a roughly $5,000 revenue hit would have left little room for reductions, she said.

“It gets to 50, 60, 70 below zero here, and you’ve got to have heat in the building,” Morgan said. “So that’s something that we can’t skimp on.”

The library would likely survive a year without full funding, but Tok has no tax base or way to charge for membership, she said. Soliciting donations and selling used books would be Tok’s only way of raising revenue for the library, she added.

State legislators received outraged emails and calls warning of devastating consequences from the planned cuts. For many libraries, the grants make up a large part of their budgets, lawmakers said. KDLL, a Kenai public radio station, first published a story on the library budget cuts and described impacts to communities there.

“There was quite a bit of an uproar,” said Soldotna Republican Rep. Justin Ruffridge, co-chair of the House Education Committee.

Ruffridge said the announced cut had come as a surprise. The grants cost the state $553,000 last year. This year, the state had planned to give $150,000 to Alaska’s libraries. The Legislature did not approve a reduction in funding for the grants. Gov. Mike Dunleavy had not vetoed the grants, Ruffridge said.

“So then we thought, well, what are they doing with the money? But we never did get an explanation,” said Rep. Dan Ortiz, I-Ketchikan.

The Alaska Department of Education did not respond to a request for comment on Friday about how the additional $403,000 in library grants was going to be used.

By Aug. 23, Phillips-Chan sent an email to librarians saying that state officials were looking “to establish dedicated funding for the grant program.”

Behind the scenes, legislators continued to hear outrage. Lawmakers sent letters to the education department looking for answers.

On Tuesday, Education Commissioner Deena Bishop told legislators that officials were working “to identify additional funding for this grant program.”

On Wednesday, Philips-Chan sent another email to Alaska librarians that said the full $7,000 in grant funding for each library would be paid on Oct. 15.

Kodiak Republican Senate President Gary Stevens told Bishop in a Thursday letter he would be “following the progress on this effort” and that he supported restoring the full funding. He said in communities with poor internet access that libraries help students attend college courses, business owners to file paperwork and elders to access medical care.

“Many rural libraries also host classes that support and enrich our local communities such as First Aid/CPR, educational and civic forums, and art and cultural activities,” he said.

“I’m relieved,” said Sarah Scambler, Wrangell’s library director.

Scambler said the small Southeast Alaska city has received at least $6,500 each year from the state since 2012. She said “it was just sort of a given” that Wrangell would receive similar funding this year.

Ruffridge said he had lobbied Bishop for the full grant funding to be paid. He said that he was impressed with the commissioner’s response and her efforts to fix the issue.

However, some librarians remained wary. Ieremia, Sitka’s library director, said that there had been “such poor communication” from the department since the budget cut was announced.

“It’s really created a mistrust in the leadership because of the way the information was delivered to us,” she said.

In Tok, Morgan remained similarly unconvinced. She said Wednesday’s letter from Phillips-Chan was “pretty vague and didn’t say where the money was coming from.”

Morgan wasn’t celebrating yet that the funding would be restored.

”So I’m kind of once bitten twice shy,” she said “I’ll believe that when I see it.”