A proposed 20% cut in a state program that lets library patrons check out books from public libraries beyond their own town or city has been restored by the General Assembly’s Appropriations Committee, an official of the Connecticut State Library said Monday.
Dawn La Valle, the director of the Division of Library Development, said in an email that the committee has restored $140,000 for the 50-year-old borrowIT CT program in its budget proposal.
“We are cautiously optimistic that borrowIT CT will be funded at [the] current level,’’ she said.
In February, Gov. Ned Lamont had proposed the $140,000, or 20%, cut in the program’s budget of about $700,000 for 2027, and library advocates have been lobbying for its restoration since then. The proposed cut caused concern that some libraries would drop out of the program if they determined that the reimbursement was not worth the cost of lending materials, La Valle said.
“I can definitely foresee that happening,” La Valle said. “Some libraries might just not see the purpose if the reimbursement funds decrease.”
Some residents have taken the program for granted, she said, and aren’t aware of the funding mechanism.
“Most residents just know that they can take their library card and go use it at another library,” La Valle said. “A lot of them do not know this program even exists.”
The program, established in 1974 and originally known as Connecticard, has enabled libraries to loan more than 156 million items over the past 50 years, according to data from the state. A total of 191 public libraries participate in borrowIT CT.
When the Willington Public Library doesn’t have a particular book available, library director Steve Osier encourages patrons to check it out from another library through borrowIT CT.
When a library loans out materials to non-residents, the state library then reimburses it 14 cents per transaction. The library can then use the funds to buy more books or supplies. Lamont’s proposed cut would have dropped the reimbursement rate to less than 10 cents, La Valle said.
Osier said patrons at his library borrowed 6,683 items from other libraries in 2025, about twice the number of books patrons from other towns borrowed from Willington.
“We can get the big hits and the bestsellers, but we can’t always get everything,” Osier said.
During fiscal year 2025, Connecticut libraries loaned more than 2.5 million items to non-residents through the program, according to data from the state.
While the reimbursement amount may seem small, it adds up quickly for the libraries that lend thousands of materials each year. If libraries had to purchase every item that their residents borrowed through the program, it would cost more than $35 million annually, according to data from the state library
This program is important for libraries in rural towns where their library collections are significantly smaller than those of larger towns and cities. Osier mentioned this concern in his written testimony to the General Assembly.
“A funding reduction of this size risks discouraging libraries from participating, weakening resource sharing statewide and reducing access for patrons—particularly those in communities with fewer local resources,” Osier wrote.
Funding for the program has already declined over time. BorrowIT CT’s current funding level is just slightly over half of what it was in 2008, including inflation, according to data from the state.
Erin Dummeyer, the president of the Connecticut Library Association and director of the Mark Twain Library in Redding, said that Connecticut already ranks low in state funding for public libraries compared to other states.
Dummeyer said funding has remained flat in recent years even as the costs of books and other materials has increased, putting extra strain on the library budgets. She added that despite these challenges, demand for borrowIT CT has remained strong and the reimbursement money allows libraries to add services they otherwise could not afford.
“I heard of one library that used the reimbursement funds to fund a staff position before town funding kicked in and it allowed that person to be hired earlier,” Dummeyer said.
As lawmakers continue to debate the proposed state budget, funding for the program remains unclear.
“I don’t see why we should be cutting money from the program because in the scheme of things, it’s not a lot of money relative to the big state budget,” State Sen. Jeff Gordon, R-Woodstock, said. “I do support people being able to access their libraries including libraries in various towns and I don’t see why we should limit that.”
Leigh Hoadley, a part-time staff member at the Willington library who lives in Mansfield, said the program makes it more convenient to check out books for herself and her three children in Willington as a non-resident.
“They love reading,” Hoadley said. “It opens up a magical world to them every time they start a book.”
Nicole Caruso is majoring in journalism and English at the University of Connecticut. This story is republished via CT Community News, a service of the Connecticut Student Journalism Collaborative, an organization sponsored by journalism departments at college and university campuses across the state.
