Greetings! As the weather warms and we start enjoying later daylight, I wanted to send a message with some updates on State Library related legislation, a recent trip I made to D.C. to speak with our federal delegation, and some important State Library reminders that you should be aware of.

Legislative Update

Throughout session, we’ve been monitoring bills that pertain to the State Library and wanted to provide some information and context on pending legislation. Now that the second funnel has passed, we have an idea of what legislation is still in play.

A bill in the Senate, SF 2246, is on the list of unfinished business for the session and proposes the following changes:

• Removes biennial reporting requirement to the Governor’s office regarding library services. This information could be included in the annual report submitted by DAS.
• Removes establishment of standards for state agency libraries. The State Library has never established standards for the Library for the Blind and the History Research Center at the State Historical Society, the only remaining state agency libraries. This does not affect the Public Library Standards.
• Removes requirement for a biennial unified plan for library services with the AEAs. This was put into place after the library service agencies were merged with the State Library and the AEAs were added into the code. A plan has never been completed.
• Updates language related to the Enrich Iowa program, substituting “interlibrary loan” for the outdated “access plus” term. This bill does not change the way the program operates.

Note: there are four companion bills with the same proposals in the House; however they are not on the House's unfinished business list and will not be advancing further (HF 2303, HF 2312, HF 2313, and HF 2314). The Senate bill's language could be adopted by the House.

Another bill we’re following is SF 2385, which relates to boards, commissions, and councils in state government and implements recommendations from a report issued by a task force last summer. This bill would remove the rulemaking role of the Iowa Commission of Libraries, setting it up as an advisory group for the State Library. The bill has been placed on the Senate's unfinished business list. Another bill in the House, HF 2574, does not specifically call out the Commission and is also on that chamber's unfinished business list.

As a reminder, being a state agency requires the State Library to remain neutral on legislation. We can provide information but do not offer opinions or official statements on pending or established legislation.

To read the text of any of the bills above or to see their status and follow them through the legislative process, search their bill numbers in the “Bills” field on the Iowa Legislature website:

Iowa Legislature

COSLA Voices for Libraries

Two weeks ago I traveled to Washington D.C. to participate in the Chief Officers of State Library Agencies (COSLA) Spring meeting and Voices for Libraries events. Voices for Libraries invited library advocates from every state to travel to D.C. and speak with legislators about the importance of libraries and emphasize the need for federal support in the form of LSTA funds from IMLS.

I was pleased to hold meetings with each of Iowa’s federal delegates or staff members, and spoke about how Iowa libraries benefit from the federal funding we receive. I presented the one-page fact sheet (linked below) that gives an overview of the impact of LSTA funding.

I encourage you to download and share it with your board members to help understand how funding at the federal level supports many of the valued services and resources the State Library offers to public libraries.

Download the 2024 LSTA Fact Sheet