Statements on Introduced Bills and Joint Resolution

Floor Speech

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Mr. REED. Mr. President, to help libraries respond to and recover from the COVID-19 pandemic and continue providing communities with needed services, resources, technology, and broadband access, I am introducing the Library Stabilization Fund Act along with Senators Brown, Booker, Blumenthal, Udall, Cardin, Warren, Whitehouse, Heinrich, Van Hollen, Menendez, Wyden, Hirano, and Markey. Our bill would provide the $2 billion the American Library Association has estimated is necessary for a library stabilization fund under the Institute of Museum and Library Services (IMLS).

COVID-19 has wreaked havoc on every aspect of our daily lives. Libraries, which anchor our local communities, are no exception. Local budget shortfalls have left libraries to grapple with severe cuts, furloughs of staff, and reduced operations just when communities need their services the most. In addition to providing additional resources to enable schools to reopen safely, close the homework gap, and strengthen the social safety net, we need to invest in libraries to help our communities recover.

Libraries are a critical piece of our education, economic development, and social infrastructure. Although many libraries remain closed or have limited hours, libraries are meeting urgent community needs by increasing technology access (including boosting WIFI and lending hotspots, tablets, and computers), offering digital content, providing books and materials for delivery or pick-up, and hosting online story times, classes, and discussion groups. In this way, libraries are providing enrichment to our young people, ensuring students can connect to remote and summer learning, enabling those with jobs to telework, helping job seekers find employment and receive training, and offering a lifeline to vulnerable adults and seniors who need health information, a portal to government services, and ways to avoid social isolation.

To strengthen the ability of libraries to serve communities affected by COVID-19, our bill would provide funding to states on a formula basis, with a minimum allotment of $10 million; to tribes; and on a competitive basis. The funding could be used to support general operations, including paying staff and ensuring the safe handling of library materials; to offer greater access to technology, including expanding digital networks and enabling the purchase and lending of hotspots, laptops, and digital resources; to strengthen services and resources, including those relating to literacy, distance learning, adult education, workforce and economic development, and health information; and to link patrons to government, community, and cultural resources.

This legislation will help ensure libraries can continue to find new ways to bridge the digital divide and safely provide information, programming, and services that people of all ages need to stay engaged and informed. This smart investment in our libraries will keep people and communities connected and contribute to our economic recovery.

I thank the supporters of the bill, including the American Library Association; Association for Rural & Small Libraries; Association of Research Libraries; Chief Officers of State Library Agencies; Common Sense Media: International Dyslexia Association; National Association of Elementary School Principals; National Association of Secondary School Principals; National Coalition for Literacy; National Digital Inclusion Alliance; National Humanities Alliance; National League of Cities; Reach Out and Read; Reading Is Fundamental; and Urban Libraries Council. Companion legislation is being introduced on a bipartisan basis in the other body by Congressman Andy Levin.

I urge our colleagues to join us in pressing for the inclusion of the Library Stabilization Fund Act in the next COVID-19 response package.

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