Funding for Libraries in Illinois from the Illinois State Library

In March, Governor Quinn presented a budget to the Illinois legislature. This budget made some small cuts, but the Governor is relying on an income tax increase to make up most of the budget shortfall.

The Illinois State Library, which is a department of the Illinois Secretary of State's Office, is a funding source for Library Systems, Public Libraries, and School Libraries through per capita grants as well as to all types of libraries through various other special grants.

An analysis of the budget for the Secretary of State's Office shows that the majority of submitted budget line items for the grants to libraries are either flat requests (the same amount as last year) or show slight increases. While this is, in a sense, good news that there appear to be no cuts to library funding through the Illinois State Library, the budget that the Governor submitted was only a first step.

Rumblings are that the submitted budget does not do enough cutting while asking for too much of an increase to the income tax. The Illinois House of Representatives and the Illinois Senate both have to pass and reconcile a budget that then must be sent to the Governor to be signed. Current estimates are that the legislature will complete their process by the end of May. So, stay tuned!