Appropriations

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Texas State Library and Archives Commission

TSLAC submitted their FY 2024-2025 Legislative Appropriations Request (LAR) to the Legislative Budget Board (LBB) in September. LBB staff held a hearing on the state library’s LAR on September 12, and TLA provided testimony in support of the budget request.

The agency’s total budget request is $69.7 million, of that, $46.7 million supports essential library programs including grants to libraries, interlibrary loan, consulting and support services, technology evaluation and implementation assistance, and the TexShare and TexQuest programs.

TSLAC also included five exceptional items in their LAR. TLA supports these requests with priority given to exceptional item #4, library IT support and broadband readiness.

The $4.4 million exceptional item investment would support small libraries, most in rural areas, serving populations of 12,000 or less, that cannot afford or don’t have access to local IT support to ensure that library equipment is maintained, and systems are updated to provide secure and consistent access to technology for these communities.