ACRL News Issue (B) of College & Research Libraries


3 2 4 /C& RL News ■ March 2001

W a s h i n g t o n  H o t l i n e Lynne E. Bradley

E -R a te  u n d e r fir e
B y the close o f 2000, the E-Rate, w hich pro­
vides telecommunications service discounts to 
schools and libraries, enjoyed widespread sup­
port among many legislators, telecomm unica­
tions industry leaders, and the public. How­
ever, there were still those w ho introduced 
legislation to eliminate or restructure the pro­
gram, which provided $3-65 billion in discounts 
during its first two cycles to libraries and schools 
for basic telecommunications, Internet access, 
and internal wiring. All o f these bills remained 
pending by the end o f the second session of 
the 106th Congress.

In February, the Bush Administration in­
troduced proposals to m ove the E-Rate pro­
gram into a b lock  grant with other tech nol­
ogy programs in the U.S. Departm ent o f Edu­
cation. It is unclear how  libraries w ould be 
treated in the new  program if it should hap­
pen. Som e fear libraries may even b e cut from 
the program. T here is also at least on e c o n ­
gressional proposal from Rep. G en e G reen 
(D -Texas) that would latch onto allegedly un­
com m itted E-Rate funds to provide school 
com puter labs with $25,000 grants.

The E-Rate has provided a large num ber 
o f libraries with the ability to improve tele­
com m u nications services for patrons. But 
many librarians are unaware o f the benefits 
offered by the E-Rate. Follow ing are som e 
key facts about this invaluable program:

• T he E-Rate is a federal initiative that 
exp an d s and updates this cou ntry’s long­
standing national policy goal o f Universal 
Service by providing discounts on  telecom ­
munications and Internet-related technologies 
to schools and libraries.

• T he E-Rate program is administered by 
the Fed eral C om m unications Com m ission 
(FCC), w here it has prospered by providing 
a secure, reliable, and equitable source o f 
continual funding to con n ect libraries and 
schools to discounted Internet-related ser­
vices.

Lynne E. Bradley is Office of Government Relations director 
of ALA's Washington Office; e-mail: leb@alawash.org

• T he E-Rate program  was o n e o f  the 
few  and very im portant public interest p ro ­
visions in the T elecom m unications Act o f 
1996. Part o f the reason the E-Rate is in the 
Universal Service program  is that it was part 
o f the bargain for m ajor d eregulation o f the 
telecom m unications industry, w hich the pro­
viders w anted at the time the act was passed.

• The E-Rate program is locally controlled, 
com munity based, and accountable— allow ­
ing each  school and library that applies for 
E- Rate funding to design a system that works 
b est for them.

• T h e adm inistration’s current proposal 
will deny important financial resources to 
libraries, o n c e  again marginalizing access to 
Internet-related services to th ose p oor and 
underserved com m unities that m ost d esper­
ately n eed  and rightfully deserve them . Fur­
ther, private and  parochial schools w ould 
also  b e  a ffe c te d  sh ou ld  th e p rogram  b e 
m oved under th e U.S. D epartm ent o f Edu­
cation.

• It has b e e n  affirmed in court cases and 
other analyses that Universal Service funds 
are n o t a tax. T hese are not funds that can be 
summarily m oved from the purview o f the 
FCC to the U.S. Departm ent o f Education, 
which functions with appropriated funds from 
tax revenues.

• Discounts range from 20 to 90  percent 
(based  on  the poverty level in the local com ­
munity), and schools and libraries are re­
quired to pay the non-discounted portion o f 
the bill them selves. FCC funds the program 
up to $2.25 billion annually, contingent upon 
demand. T h ese funds are collected  as part o f 
the Universal Service contributions m ade by 
the appropriate telecom m unications com p a­
nies.

• T he E-Rate discount program is playing 
a central role in bridging the digital divide 
by bringing new  technologies and the pow er 
o f  th e In ternet to A m erica’s libraries and 
schools.

We n eed  m ore acad em ic librarians in­
volved in these battles if w e are to k eep  these 
important telecom m unications discounts for 
our library users and our institutions.■

mailto:leb@alawash.org