The New York State Legislature has passed a budget that recognizes the valuable contributions made by public libraries to their communities:
Library Aid will be increased by more than $5 million – the largest increase to library aid in seven years.
$1.3 million was appropriated to rebate those libraries that paid the MTA Tax last year and libraries and library systems now have permanent MTA tax exemption.
The budget includes $14 million in library construction aid so there will be another round of State Aid for Public Library Construction Grants for 2015-2016.