Missouri Drops FY16 Library Aid

摘要

Difficult budget decisions, including probable cuts, await libraries throughout Missouri after the legislature drastically slashed state aid in two critical areas as part of a $26 billion 2016 spending plan adopted by the General Assembly and signed by Gov. Jay Nixon. Aid to libraries deter-mined on a per capita ba-sis for FY16 was set at $723,776, a 79 percent reduction compared to the $3.5 million budgeted for the previous year. A separate appropriation for Remote Electronic Access for Libraries (REAL), which helps pay for statewide library Internet service and support, absorbed a 52 percent decrease, down from about $3.1 million to $2 million.