Nearly 500 librarians from across the state are gathering in Wichita this week for the Kansas Library Association’s annual conference.
The conference offers library staff an opportunity for continuing education at a time when the institutions face numerous challenges, including budget cuts and increased use of artificial intelligence.
Pauline Stacchini, the association’s incoming president and executive director of the Emporia Public Library, said the group reaches a wide variety of directors and educators in Kansas.
“We are welcoming our academic librarians, our school librarians, our public librarians, our trustees, our friends, everyone who loves libraries and cares about libraries is here,” Stacchini said.
The four-day conference at Wichita’s Hyatt Regency features breakout sessions on things like using AI for health information, creating cultural programming and building a makerspace. There were booths from Kansas authors and technology vendors. The conference also includes the announcement of the William Allen White Children’s Book Awards on Friday afternoon.
Crystal Hutchinson works as a digital curation librarian at Fort Hays State University and is the association’s secretary. She said her favorite parts of the conference were the networking and learning about emerging library trends.
She attended a session on how academic libraries are creating student focus groups to find out how they feel ethically about artificial intelligence. It was something she hoped to bring back to her university library.
Hutchinson said one of the biggest challenges facing academic libraries is funding.
“I think in the academic world, we're facing a little bit of a budget crunch,” Hutchinson said. “The funding just isn't as robust as it used to be.”
It’s something libraries of all shapes and sizes currently face.
The Trump administration has proposed to nearly zero out funding for the Institute of Museum and Library Services in next year’s budget, in a major step to shutting down the agency. The institute is the independent agency responsible for providing federal funds to libraries across the United States.
For Kansas libraries, grants from the agency provide about $2.1 million, which is 30% of the Kansas State Library budget. That money is used for things like summer reading programs and research databases. Congress continues to debate the cuts.
Stacchini said funding is a complicated and nuanced issue because almost every library in the state is funded differently. In general, though, library budgets aren’t increasing enough to balance out expenses.
A common misconception is that libraries can make up the difference by buying fewer books, she said.
“That's not what you do when you cut funding,” Stacchini said. “You're cutting hours. You're cutting access. You're removing that one trusted public institution.”
One way libraries can advocate for funding is to let people know the full scale of services available, she said. Libraries provide internet access, communication services and a place to cool off from the heat.
“Libraries are not just for readers.” Stacchini said. “They're not just for DVD watchers. They're not just for people who don't have internet at home. We are for everyone. It's just a powerful part of America.”
Roger Nomer reports from the Wichita area for the Kansas News Service. You can email him at nomer@kmuw.org.
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