[Nfbmd] Legislative Fact Sheet:

[Carol]

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To: Members of the Maryland General Assembly


From: Members of the National Federation of the Blind of Maryland


Contact: Sharon Maneki, Chairman

Legislative and Advocacy Committee

9013 Nelson Way

Columbia, MD 21045

Phone: 410-715-9596

Email: nfbmd at earthlink.net

Subject: Ensuring consistent funding for the Maryland Library for the Blind and Physically Handicapped (LBPH)

Date: January 16, 2014

________________________________________________________________________

THE PROBLEM

Maryland has an extensive public library system that includes the local libraries, regional libraries, and the Maryland State Library Resource Center (MSLRC). These libraries are funded in part through a formula that is applied to statewide tax dollars. Unfortunately, LBPH is not included in Maryland's public library system. Instead, LBPH is included in the Division of Library Development Services, Maryland State Department of Education (MSDE). Under this arrangement, without benefit of a formula, LBPH cannot project its future appropriations based on current economic forecasts. Without a specific line-item in the state budget, LBPH is too dependent on the funds it gets from MSDE after MSDE receives its annual appropriation. As a very low-percentage of MSDE's total budget, LBPH is too often the target of severe reductions from MSDE. In FY2013 LBPH received only $86,000 from MSDE, while serving a population of over 8,500 borrowers. Because of these circumstances services are diminishing, staff is leaving, and the future of LBPH is in jeopardy.

PROPOSED ACTION

The Maryland General Assembly should enact legislation to include LBPH in the formula that is used to fund the public libraries in Maryland. Since LBPH serves as the state library resource center for blind and physically handicapped citizens, its funding should be based as a percentage of the funding formula for the Maryland State Library Resource Center. Based on MSLRC's current appropriation of almost $10 million, the National Federation of the Blind of Maryland recommends that LBPH's formula should be set at 25% of the MSLRC's appropriation. Including LBPH in the formula will provide consistency to enable planning for programs and services.

BACKGROUND

LBPH, located at 415 Park Avenue in downtown Baltimore, serves patrons across the state of Maryland who are "legally blind and cannot see well or focus long enough to read standard print; who are physically disabled in that they have difficultly handling a book or turning pages; or who are reading disabled due to an organic dysfunction such as dyslexia". Approximately 68% of the library's patrons are senior citizens; 20% are between the ages of 21 and 60; and 12% are students. These patrons depend on LBPH because other public libraries lack the materials and expertise to serve this group of citizens.

LBPH is part of the network of state libraries operated by the National Library Service for the Blind and Physically Handicapped (NLS), Library of Congress. As a network library, LBPH distributes books and magazines in Braille and audio formats to patrons in Maryland. Because of this federal-state partnership, LBPH does not pay for Braille books or magazines. However, NLS provides LBPH with only one copy of each audio book it produces. As a network member, LBPH must then duplicate additional copies at its own expense to distribute to patrons. LBPH is responsible for maintaining its building, paying its staff members, and providing for other operational needs such as computers, phones, and office equipment. LBPH does not have a separate and distinct budget. State dollars are first appropriated to the Division of Library Development and Services (DLDS), which in turn doles out funds to LBPH. As a result, Maryland does a very poor job of upholding its end of this federal-state partnership.

SPECIFIC CONCERNS:

LBPH is not a priority for the MSDE and DLDS.

The DLDS, and consequently LBPH, has been consistently underfunded for the past twelve years. Although this was a difficult economic period that required reductions in state government spending, funding for the MSDE actually increased. Yet, LBPH's appropriations decreased steadily so that in FY 2013, it received only $85,824 of state funding. To compensate for this shortfall, DLDS assigned $1,560,868 of federal funds to LBPH to cover its operating costs. This highly questionable move aroused the ire of the public libraries since these federal dollars were intended as seed money to all libraries for new projects, and not to be used as operational funding. With future decreases in federal funding almost certain, Maryland's strategy of funding LBPH by "robbing Peter to pay Paul" cannot be sustained. Will LBPH be forced to close its doors?


LBPH does not meet national library standards.

The Association of Specialized and Cooperative Library Agencies, which is part of the American Library Association, has established national standards for all network libraries in the Library of Congress Books for the Blind program. LBPH fails to meet these standards because of inadequate funding by state government. The most glaring example is the failure to meet recommended staff requirements for comparable libraries. The standard is 20 full-time employees. Maryland only has 14 employees. To compensate for staff shortages, LBPH uses volunteers. This strategy is becoming more ineffective as the work at LBPH becomes more technical, and volunteers don't have the necessary skills. 

Another consequence of LBPH's understaffing is the decline in the number of readers it serves. Without the necessary staff to conduct consumer outreach, fewer people are being served because they do not know about LBPH. In FY 2010, LBPH served 11,262 patrons. As of September 30, 2012, LBPH served only 8,594 patrons. This is especially unfortunate because the size of the blind and physically disabled population is increasing.

LBPH must serve an expanding population.

Every segment of LBPH's customer base will continue to grow during the next decade. Due to the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, there has been and will continue to be an increase in the number of veterans who are blind and have other reading disabilities. Since people are living longer, more seniors are facing the loss of vision. Every year approximately 75,000 Americans become blind. Diabetes is the leading cause of blindness in adults. More and more Americans join the ranks of diabetics each year. LBPH must also serve a diverse population of working aged adults. Advances in medical technology have made the survival of more disabled children possible. In order to plan for this patron expansion, LBPH must have a stable source of funding. LBPH needs sufficient staff to conduct outreach programs to find the people who need its services.

LBPH has a history of missed opportunities.

Because of inadequate funding, LBPH has limited access to state of the art computers and software to fulfill its mission. The most glaring example of missed opportunity is the failure to adequately support the Accessible Textbook Coordination program for students and faculty in higher education. In 2007, the Maryland General Assembly requested that LBPH serve as the coordinator for the distribution of accessible textbooks so that blind and other reading disabled students in college can obtain textbooks on time and in a format they can use. This approach would not only benefit individual students, but also would eliminate duplication of effort by individual colleges throughout the state. Such efficiencies have never been realized because the state of Maryland has never adequately funded this program through LBPH.

CONCLUSION

Services at the LBPH are declining because state funding has been reduced over the last twelve years. LBPH services are vital to the blind and physically handicapped citizens of Maryland because it is our major source for obtaining reading materials. It is the only library in Maryland that does not have a specific budget. The Maryland General Assembly should solve this problem by including LBPH in the funding formula for all public libraries. Blind and physically handicapped citizens are at a great disadvantage because they have limited access to information. Funding policies of Maryland are exacerbating this problem. It is time to give the Maryland Library for the Blind and Physically Handicapped the same funding mechanism that is enjoyed by the other public libraries.
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