COMMENTS TO NJ JOINT APPROPRIATIONS COMMITTEE

Good morning. My name is Patricia Tumulty and I am the Executive Director of the New Jersey Library Association. I am speaking today directly on behalf of the 1550 members of our Association and the 1400 members of the New Jersey Library Trustee Association. But more importantly, I am also speaking on behalf of the millions of residents of New Jersey who rely upon local libraries as their centers for access to library and information services. It is for the residents of New Jersey that I advocate strengthening and expanding library resources. Last year 38 million people visited New Jersey's public libraries and thousands more utilized library resources electronically.

LEGISLATIVE INITIATIVES

First, I would like to thank this Committee for the leadership it has shown on behalf of the residents of New Jersey through your support of library services. The funding which you have provided in the past several years has laid the foundation to transform our libraries into modern information centers and has strengthened access to library resources for all residents of New Jersey. It has only been through legislative leadership that our libraries have grown.

Through your leadership five significant actions have taken place:

1. passage of the Higher Education Technology Infrastructure Bond Act, which provided capital funding to the State Library for its Internet Hub project and to academic libraries for their VALE (Virtual Academic Library Environment) initiative;

2. passage of the Public Library Construction Act, which will provide $45 million in capital funding for public libraries.

3. an increase in the state per capita aid program. Although this program is still not fully funded, your increase was extremely important to the library community;

4. strengthening the programs and services of the New Jersey State Library including the reinstatement of Saturday hours;

5. providing one million dollars for the Virtual Library program. This was the first funding ever for this program.

Your support has made the difference for our libraries.

LIBRARY LEADERSHIP

For the past five years the New Jersey State Library has been under the administrative leadership of Thomas Edison State College. We believe that many of the significant achievements that are outlined above have been obtained their leadership and support. To be frank, being with Thomas Edison State College has probably been the best thing that has happened to the libraries of New Jersey. It is an unique educational partnership. We are the only state in the nation where an institution of higher education is "joined" with a state library agency. This relationship has provided unimagined leadership opportunities for the State Library. Both institutions are committed to lifelong learning, educational excellence, and technological innovation. Currently, two pieces of legislation are pending which would formalize this relationship through legislative action. We would like to publicly thank Assemblyman Lance and Senator Inverso who are the prime sponsors of this legislation. The New Jersey Library Association strongly supports these bills and hope that legislative action can be taken quickly. This partnership between Thomas Edison State College and the New Jersey State Library has been tremendously successful in improving access to information for all residents of New Jersey.

STATUS OF FUNDING FOR LIBRARIES

Even with all of these significant gains, our libraries are falling behind nationally when compared to other states. The major support for library programs in the last decade has been through capital appropriations. The Technology Bond Act and the Public Library Construction Program are providing $50 million for library initiatives. This has been wonderful but the actual budgetary support has been lagging. The budget that you are reviewing provides $15,412,000 for library programs. This appropriation is still less than the FY89 state budget that provided $16,309,000 for library programs. That was over 10 years ago and we have had no increase in the total funding for library programs in that time. I am sure you will not find any program which serves so many people that has actually had a decrease in funding.

In the past decade, local support for libraries in New Jersey has increased approximately 60% while state aid has actually decreased. In 1990, New Jersey was ranked 4th nationally in total income per capita support for public libraries (behind Ohio, New York and the District of Columbia). In the latest statistics from the federal government (based on 1997 figures) New Jersey now ranks 9th falling behind Illinois, Indiana, Connecticut, Alaska and Washington. The state of Pennsylvania has increased support for public libraries over $30 million in the past several years. New Jersey ranks 26th in state support of public libraries. We must reverse that trend with this budget.

KNOWLEDGE NEW JERSEY

The New Jersey Library Association supports legislative initiatives that will provide excellence and opportunities for all residents through the power of the Internet and electronic information resources. We call our program “Knowledge New Jersey” and it is designed to ensure that all residents have the information resources they need to make informed decisions and be economically competitive in the information age. We would do this in two ways-through the Virtual Library Program and support of public libraries as “Digital Gateways”

I. THE VIRTUAL LIBRARY PROGRAM

The Virtual Library programs builds upon the foundation of the Technology Bond Act and would provide library and information resources throughout the State. It would give all New Jersey residents access to unprecedented amounts of electronic information that can be access by all libraries. Specialized resources in health, business and science can now be provided electronically for every resident. Geography will no longer be a barrier. Salem County is an excellent example. The library resources in this area of the state are very, very limited. The Salem City Library could only purchase 73 magazine subscriptions last year but through the Virtual Library program it has access to hundreds of magazines electronically. The Virtual Library program has had a direct impact on every public and academic library in our state. It is an exciting proposal that transforms the delivery of library resources. States such as Ohio and Georgia are allocating approximately $8 -$10 million for electronic library resources each year. If we are to be competitive, we must do the same. Last year for the first time one million dollars was appropriated for this program through the support of the Legislature. We believe this funding level must be $ 6 million to support all of the services listed below. The Virtual Library Program would:

1) support the expansion of the statewide library resources through the purchase/license of electronic information resources, including indexes, full-text databases, electronic journals and newspapers. The VALE project which now only serves academic libraries could be expanded to serve public and school libraries as well;

2) provide access to the collections of hundreds of New Jersey libraries with an electronic interlibrary loan system which will enable anyone to request materials from libraries throughout the state;

3) expand public library services by supporting Internet and telecommunications costs of public libraries through an infrastructure of 15 Hub libraries and by providing upgrades of public library computer equipment;

4) provide the New Jersey State Library with the expertise to lead the technological development of our libraries.

II. DIGITAL GATEWAYS

The second legislative initiative in our “Knowledge New Jersey” program would strengthen our public libraries. New Jersey Library Association believes that every resident of New Jersey must have access to the Internet. Unfortunately reality is much different. Many residents including senior citizens, urban residents and those with limited economic resources do not have the Internet at home or work. Without this access they are missing many opportunities.

It is very apparent that the state of New Jersey is concentrating on developing "e-government" by expanding the state’s website and by providing more services and programs online. In fact, you could register to testify for this hearing online. But what if you do not have a computer or Internet access, where will you go? New Jersey must also provide "electronic access” points to the programs and services of state government for all residents. These access points are at our public libraries.

The proposed state budget requests $ 8,665,000 for the state per capita aid program. This is a critical program for every public library. The funding in the proposed budget represents only 86% of the authorized funding level for this program. The last time the state aid formula for public libraries was fully funded was under Governor Kean's administration. Another factor will also impact the state per capita aid program this year. Many libraries may actually receive less funding under the state aid program this year than they did last year because of the new census figures. The state per capita aid program must distribute funding to public libraries utilizing the new census figures. The 2000 census figures indicate that New Jersey’s population has now grown to over 8.4 million residents up from 7.7 million residents that was the base figure for the state per capita aid program since the 1990 census. Imagine communities such as Newark or Paterson receiving less support for library services because their populations have decreased. These communities need more funding for libraries. But if the total amount of money remains the same, some communities will suffer. To fully fund the state per capita aid program, taking into consideration the new state census figures, would require an additional $2.7 million this year for a total appropriation of approximately $11.4 million.

We also believe that it is time to consider a legislative initiative to double the current state aid formula. This funding would be in recognition of the role our libraries play as "Digital Gateways" to government information. We strongly believe that our public libraries must be supported as community access points to vital state information.

The new funding for the “Digital Gateways” will be focus on library hours, personnel and Internet training in public libraries.

This new funding could be crucial for public libraries in many ways. For example, currently 288 (out of 313) of our libraries are open on Saturdays. However, only 84 libraries are open on Sundays. Obviously, having the libraries open additional hours would be extremely beneficial to many residents. New funding under the “Digital Gateways” program could be targeted to increasing hours of operation at our libraries.

Increased staffing is also essential. As more and more state resources are put on the Internet, it is essential that trained library staff be available to assist the public in finding this information. New state programs for senior citizens and families with lower income, for example, must be promoted through libraries. Public library staff should be an essential link for residents to vital state resources and programs.

Many of our public libraries are now also providing Internet training classes for their residents. The New Jersey Library Association partnered with AT&T to develop model training materials for utilization by public libraries in training the public. This is a role that we believe must be expanded. Many residents can not afford to go to expensive Internet training classes or do not have Internet training at their place of employment. Public libraries are taking on that role for the community.

Our libraries are providing access to essential state information resources for thousands of residents of our state. Imagine the cost involved if you had to build new facilities in every community to ensure that the public had access to vital government information. You don’t- you have the public library. Now is the time to recognize and increase support for public libraries as essential “Digital Gateways.”

BUDGET FY2002

Obviously, there are many challenges facing this committee as you develop the FY2002 state budget. Your support and leadership has been essential to the library community for many years. We want to work with you to develop library funding initiatives such as “Knowledge New Jersey” which will provide information resources and access to the Internet to all residents. We have waited behind other programs. This is the year that library funding must be a priority.