By Fervent readers don’t have to worry that they won’t be able to get books from libraries outside of Aberdeen.
At least not for the rest of the year.
Anna Moser, director of K.O. Lee Aberdeen Public Library, said the library has enough money to pay higher interlibrary loan courier program expenses through December. Then, library officials will see where things stand financially, she said.
The out-of-state library exchange program will also continue through the end of the year. Until then, the library will track data and expenses, she said.
Moser
“Our patrons are going to be fine for right now,” Moser said.
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In her budget proposal late last year, Gov. Kristi Noem proposed trimming funding for the state library, but state legislators bucked that decision and restored much of that money, including the roughly $1.4 million needed for the courier service.
But on Monday, April 14, public libraries were told to eliminate the program because of a federal funding loss. That was the result of an executive order signed in March by President Donald Trump that dictated the Institute of Museum and Library Services to cut operations by the “maximum extent allowable by law.”
That news was disappointing to both state legislators, who worked to keep the courier service, and libraries that use the program.
“After all our hard work we put into this to restructure and save this program, this is disheartening,” Rep. Terri Jorgenson, R-Piedmont, told South Dakota Searchlight.
For Moser, it was a confusing turn of events. She thought the program had been spared, then had to scramble to decide how the Aberdeen library would respond.
While it was announced that the state library would receive a half-year federal grant of roughly $632,000 last week, Moser said she hasn’t heard anything from the state library about how that money will be spent, so the local plan isn’t changing as a result.
Library officials met Monday, April 21 and decided they had enough money to continue courier services through 2025, she said.
But that will cost more money. The library will have to cover the cost of postage to keep providing the service, Moser said. There’s been talk of East River libraries banding together to try and arrange some sort of agreement, and Aberdeen is interested, but that idea is in its infancy, she said.
Libraries in smaller communities will be hurt more
The more immediate concern is how smaller and rural South Dakota libraries will cope, Moser said. They’re far less likely to have extra money to maintain the courier service.
Something smaller libraries might struggle with is getting enough copies of books for their book clubs, Moser said. For example, the Kathryn Schulkoski Library in Eureka has depended on the courier to get copies of popular books for its book club.
Smaller libraries often don’t have enough money for the newest, most popular books, Moser said.
K.O. Lee Aberdeen Public Library has also decided to cover the extra expense of the ReadSquared app, which it uses for its summer reading program, Moser said.
That cost was also covered by the Institute of Museum and Library Services, but won’t be after June.
Moser said the library had to choose whether to keep the app with which patrons are familiar or try something different. She said a three-year contract was signed to keep ReadSquared at a cost of $495 annually. When it ends, Moser said the library will have to decide what to do next.
While there aren’t pressing issues at the moment, there’s concern about the future. The cost of providing some databases the library offers, including ancestry.com, which is very popular, might have to be covered locally, Moser said. She said library officials haven’t yet discussed that potential issue.
That could mean cutting the budget for new books, programming or office supplies, she said.
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“It’s definitely the possibility of having to move things around. That’s what concerns me,” Moser said.
On the upside, there isn’t a need to restrict the number of books Aberdeen patrons can get from other libraries.
That has to do with having a great staff, including Jody Reeder, who handles interlibrary loan program and makes sure there’s not a backlog of active holds, Moser said.