State library study urges funding boost for statewide book-sharing and digital services

The Montana State Library presented a detailed "Books to the People" resource-sharing study, telling the Education Interim Budget Committee that existing statewide systems dramatically expand access but are underfunded and unevenly available across the state.

State Librarian Jenny Stapp said the Montana Shared Catalog, the courier network and the Montana Library to Go e-book platform underpin the state's library infrastructure. She reported that 202 member libraries serve roughly 420,000 Montanans and that shared digital and physical collections produced large increases in use: "In FY '25, those Montanans checked out things from their libraries more than 4,600,000 times from a collection of 3,600,000 items," Stapp said.

The presentation documented tangible impacts on small and frontier libraries. Stapp highlighted courier expansion (19 direct stops with secondary access for dozens more) and said that without coordinated delivery and catalog services, rural patrons would go without. "Without these services, patrons simply have to go without," she said, noting that courier volumes exceeded 17,000 crates and 302 tons of books in FY25.

Stapp and LFD staff explained gaps: school libraries lack centralized digital resources, the statewide interlibrary reimbursement created in 1989 never adapted to digital subscriptions, and some shared services such as ebook licensing and courier hubs rely heavily on local staff or volunteers. The state library estimates that keeping pace with physical shipping demand would cost roughly $4.2 million annually under a mail-based model; the study estimated $2.4M per year to sustain physical-sharing capacity if funding had kept pace with demand since 1989, excluding digital-service costs.

To address sustainability and expansion, staff proposed several funding and governance options, including expanding a proprietary account that would standardize how libraries pay for shared services, preserve local choice, and let new services be added as needs evolve. Stapp urged that a resilient funding model should combine local contributions, federal grants, and a state funding mechanism that could weather revenue fluctuations: "What would a more resilient funding model look like? One that would allow more libraries to participate and that would better weather threats to any one funding source."

Committee members and public commenters from small libraries applauded the study and urged prioritized, affordable options to expand courier routes and e-resources. The Legislature will review the proposal and revisit options at the committee's June meeting; staff flagged the proprietary account idea as a concrete next step for further analysis.

Ending: The committee asked the state library to provide a prioritized, costed list of near-term actions (including the proprietary account approach and options to expand courier hubs) for the June meeting so lawmakers can weigh trade-offs ahead of the 2027 session.