Yankton educators warn proposed state library cuts would force local schools to pay for databases and services

YANKTON, S.D. — District librarians and school leaders told the Yankton School District 63-3 board on Jan. 13 that a proposed reduction in the state library budget would sharply reduce services schools rely on and shift costs locally.

"She will be eliminated," said a district librarian describing the likely loss of the district's state library liaison, Scotty Branch, a position that the speaker said serves as the lead liaison between the state library and school libraries and coordinates outreach and organization. The presenter said the governor's proposed cut of just over $1 million to the state library budget is tied to roughly $1.4 million in federal funding from the Institute of Museum and Library Services and that together the reductions would total more than $2.4 million for the state library.

Board members were told what that would mean in practical terms: elimination of outreach services, fewer reference and digitization supports, loss of interlibrary loan courier service, and removal of the statewide catalog that allows libraries to find and request items from across South Dakota. The presenter listed 19 databases the district uses and estimated a per-database replacement cost of about $1,500, which would total roughly $27,000 to preserve current access for the district.

Mary Pat Beyerly, a Yankton resident and member of a community library board, urged constituents to contact members of the House and Senate appropriations committees and to supply personal stories rather than canned messages. Beyerly said local advocacy influenced committee members and described outreach the public library had already undertaken to lawmakers.

District staff and trustees emphasized that some statewide services are not costly line items in the context of the whole state budget but are vital to school research, classroom assignments and standardized-test preparation. The presenter said the cuts would affect classroom instruction — citing examples including database access used for research projects, ACT prep materials and curricular reference collections.

The board did not take a formal vote on library advocacy during the meeting. Officials encouraged parents and community members to contact appropriators at the committee stage, when Beyerly said the line could still be altered before reaching the full chamber.

What happens next: board members were asked to watch for committee action in Pierre and for the public library and schools to continue outreach to state appropriators.