[SCLA] ICYMI: House starts budget process early

Thu Mar 5 11:04:23 EST 2026

Good Morning,

In case you missed it, the American Library Association (ALA) has issued a call to action surrounding Congressional funding for libraries in FY 2027. The House of Representatives has taken up budget talks earlier than usual, and ALA is asking us to let our representatives know how important it is to continue funding libraries. Please see the email from ALA below for more information.

Kind Regards,
Kerri

Kerri Ann Souto (she/her)
Government and Community Relations Coordinator
Suffolk Cooperative Library System
627 N. Sunrise Service Road
Bellport, NY 11713
631-286-1600 Ext. 1333
kerri at suffolknet.org<mailto:kerri at suffolknet.org>

________________________________
From: ALA Public Policy & Advocacy <advocacyaction at ala.org>
Sent: Tuesday, March 3, 2026 5:28 PM
To: Kerri Souto <kerri at suffolknet.org>
Subject: BREAKING: House starts budget process early

Let’s start this year's library funding campaign with a bang (and a lot of emails). ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌

Let’s start this year's library funding campaign with a bang (and a lot of emails).

No images? Click here<https://americanlibraryassociation.cmail19.com/t/i-e-ztljdik-itjhuidjdy-a/>

[Show Up For Our Libraries]<https://americanlibraryassociation.cmail19.com/t/i-l-ztljdik-itjhuidjdy-r/>

Hi Kerri,

There’s no shortage of surprises coming out of the U.S. Capitol these days. And while ALA’s Public Policy and Advocacy office was on Capitol Hill with our advocates last week, we got wind of another surprise: U.S. House of Representative leaders have kicked off the first stage of the budget process for next year more than a month earlier than expected.

Help us start the fiscal year 2027 (FY27) budget process off strong by urging your House Representative to sign letters in support of federal library funding!

Email Your Representative Now!<https://americanlibraryassociation.cmail19.com/t/i-l-ztljdik-itjhuidjdy-y/>

One thing I know for sure is that the earlier and stronger we can demonstrate broad, bipartisan Congressional support for libraries, the more likely we are to get library funding included in next year’s federal budget. That’s where you, and our whole library community, come in.

This first step of the process involves our U.S. House library champions, Rep. Jim McGovern (D-MA) and Rep. Don Bacon (R-NE), asking for signers on their two “Dear Appropriator” letters supporting key federal library programs. (Letters in the Senate will follow soon.) We need as many House signers on these letters as possible to encourage Appropriations Committee members to include this funding in the budget. And House lawmakers only have until March 20 to sign on, so we need them to act fast.

One letter asks for robust funding (authorized at $232 million) for the Library Services and Technology Act (LSTA), administered by the Institute of Museum and Library Services, and the second letter asks for at least $50 million for the Innovative Approaches to Literacy (IAL) program within the Department of Education. LSTA supports library programs in local communities nationwide, such as services for veterans and older people, jobseeker resources, workforce development programs, internet access, early childhood programs, and much more. IAL gives high-needs school libraries nationwide resources to help ease the child literacy crisis, which has continued to get worse since the pandemic.

Both of these programs use a minuscule percentage of the federal budget to have a huge impact on their communities. The more support we can demonstrate for them, the more likely they will be to survive expected budget cuts.

Urge your lawmaker to act for libraries!<https://americanlibraryassociation.cmail19.com/t/i-l-ztljdik-itjhuidjdy-j/>

Thanks to library supporters like you, Congress maintained federal library funding for 2026—but the threat is not gone. We expect this White House to continue to do everything possible to slash funding for anything outside its preferred priorities, and they’ve made it very clear that does not include library services.

Our advocates and PPA staff had hundreds of productive meetings with Congressional staff of both parties last week, though, so I know that there’s an appetite for library support on the Hill. We need your help to remind our lawmakers that they have constituent support to back them up.

Tell them to sign by March 20!<https://americanlibraryassociation.cmail19.com/t/i-l-ztljdik-itjhuidjdy-t/>

If you can, take a couple of minutes on our action page to include your library story or otherwise personalize the letter copy we’ve prepared for you. You can best express why you want Congress to support library funding; sharing that with your House Representative will make the message more powerful.

As always, thank you for being a part of ALA’s library community, whether you work for libraries or just love them as much as we do. Let’s start this funding process off with a bang!

Thank you,
Lisa R. Varga
Associate Executive Director, Public Policy & Advocacy

PS. For more details about the “Dear Appropriator” letters and funding process, check out our Fund Libraries<https://americanlibraryassociation.cmail19.com/t/i-l-ztljdik-itjhuidjdy-i/> page, where you can also learn if your representative has been a library champion before.

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