The TexShare program for libraries uses the state's purchasing power to provide database subscriptions to 667 university, community college, medical and public libraries across Texas, netting around $14 in services for every $1 spent, according to a recent article in the San Antonio Express-News by Melissa Ludwig.
“We are the Walmart of libraries,” said Dana Rooks, dean of libraries at the University of Houston who helped found TexShare about 20 years ago. “We are getting a better product at a hugely reduced price.”
In fact there are even federal funds involved on a matching basis.
A recent House committee substitute restores $2.5 million to the program, but this still represents a deep cut that will affect libraries across the state, Gloria Meraz of the Texas Library Association said.
From the article:
“We are grateful for that, but it is still really going to shrink the program,” Meraz said.
According to the Legislative Budget Board, the intent was never to kill the program, but to shift the cost to individual libraries via increased fees.
But according to Meraz, state investment attracts federal dollars, and TexShare could lose millions in federal funding if the cuts stand.
Libraries can't pick up all those fees, Meraz said, and may simply go without a valuable collection of journals, abstracts and databases she called the “bread-and-butter of research at universities.”
Rep. John Otto (R-Dayton) stated that he put money back in the program because it's a smart investment, but there is only so much he can do.
“Everybody is getting a cut,” Rep. Otto said. “Would you rather me take it out of public schools?”
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