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Jenni Terry W a s h i n g t o n  H o t l i n e  

Know your stimulus 
The American Recovery and Reinvestment Act 
(ARRA), aka “the stimulus,” offers many op­
portunities for academic libraries and higher 
education, but interested parties should note 
that the money will not be handed to them. 

Research and action will be necessary. 
Yet, many who are inexperienced with pur­

suing federal funding may be unsure of how 
to proceed. 

The inexperienced need not worry, however, 
as this unprecedented process of obtaining 
stimulus funding is an entirely new ballgame 
for everyone—and one for which the rules are 
still being determined. 

The following provisions of the ARRA may 
benefit academic libraries: 

• $53.6 billion for the state stabilization 
Fund. The purpose of this fund is to provide 
fiscal relief to the states to prevent tax increases 
and cutbacks to critical services. ARRA directs 
governors to use 81.8 percent of the state’s al­
location to support elementary, secondary, and 
higher education. This funding is fl exible, and 
the control rests in the hands of the governor 
as to how the funding is allocated in the state. 
Although new construction is excluded, repair­
ing or modernizing buildings is not. 

• $7.2 billion for broadband programs. 
There are tremendous opportunities for librar­
ies to benefit from the broadband provisions of 
ARRA. $4.5 billion has been designated for the 
National Telecommunications and Information 
Administration (NTIA) and $2.5 billion for the 
Rural Utilities Service (RUS), which includes no 
less than $200 million set aside for community 
computing centers, including public libraries 
and community colleges. 

Now comes the “action” part. Here are some 
steps academic libraries can take now, even as 
details from the agencies are shared. 

• Talk with your campus administra-
tors, other higher education institutions, 

Jenni Terry is press officer at ALA’s Washington Offi  ce, 
e-mail: jterry@alawash.org 

university system, and other types of  li-
braries. What plans do they have for ARRA? 
What plans do they have for broadband? Will 
you have to work through them or will your 
college or university be able to apply directly 
for ARRA programs? 

• Work with key administrator s on 
your campus to contact potential par t-
ners—public and private. Connect with your 
university system, consortium, higher education 
associations (e.g., EDUCAUSE), etc., to explore 
opportunities to collaborate on grants for ARRA 
funding. 

• Think creatively, collaboratively and 
aggregate. Contact other libraries of all types 
(including public and school libraries in your 
area) to find out what they may be planning. 
Can you work together to aggregate demand 
for broadband, for example? 

• Connect with your state library agen-
cy. Find out what the state librarian is doing, 
as he or she may be aware of other initiatives 
to collaborate. Also, contact any regional or 
multitype library cooperatives and other higher 
education institutions. As you learn more about 
what other libraries are doing, identify potential 
models that you may want to adapt for your 
institution. 

• Help all libraries in your community— 
public, school, and other academic librar-
ies—to get better broadband connectivity. 
Most academic libraries already benefi t from 
broadband connectivity. However, academic 
libraries can help the public and school libraries 
in their communities and region by advocating 
for “fiber to the library” and other advanced 
technologies to enhance library connectivity. 
Contact your local libraries to see how you 
can help. 

As more information becomes available, the 
ALA Washington Office will provide updates at 
www.ala.org/knowyourstimulus. With a little 
preparation, collaboration and follow­through, 
academic libraries and students across the 
country can play a significant role in this historic 
opportunity to help America recover. 

240C&RL News April 2009

www.ala.org/knowyourstimulus
mailto:jterry@alawash.org