THE ASSEMBLY STATE OF NEW YORK ALBANY

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MICAH Z. KELLNER 65th Assembly District

September 30, 2013 FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Contact: Brice Peyre Office:(212) 860-4906

ASSEMBLY MEMBER MICAH KELLNERS BILL TO AID NYS RESEARCH LIBRARIES IS SIGNED INTO LAW BY GOVERNOR CUOMO
Kellner Law Will Ease New Yorks Big 11 Research Libraries Conservation & Preservation Efforts
Legislation streamlining New Yorks research libraries preservation and conservation efforts authored by Assembly Member Micah Kellner (D/WFP-Manhattan & Roosevelt Island) was signed into law on Friday by Governor Andrew Cuomo. The law (A4664) increases the statutory amount of annual funding for each of New York States Big Eleven research libraries from $126,000 to $158,000. The new law also eliminates the burdensome, labor-intensive requirements of the competitive grant process for preservation and conservation programs, a change sought by the research libraries and the NYS Education Department for several years. I am proud to have written a law that will help New York States outstanding research libraries streamline their efforts to preserve and conserve important materials, said Assembly Member Kellner. In this difficult economic and budgetary climate, these vital educational and cultural institutions need to operate as efficiently as possible, and this new law will help them do just that, he said. The same-as companion measure to Assembly Member Kellners bill in the New York State Senate, S02856-B, was introduced by Senator Hugh Farley (R/C/I-Schenectady). (more)

834 Legislative Office Building, Albany, NY 12248 (518) 455-5676, FAX (518) 455-5282 1365 1st Avenue, New York, NY 10021 (212) 860-4906, FAX (917) 432-2983
E-mail: KellnerM@assembly.state.ny.us

Background: New York State's administrative requirements for competitive grant programs become increasingly stringent in recent years, with multiple and costly layers of review and approvals. These costly layers of review drain limited staffing resources and result in long delays in grant approvals by control agencies. The administrative burden consequently outweighs the benefits of these relatively small, targeted competitive grant programs. SED and the research libraries believe increasing the statutory formulas for the Big Eleven research libraries is a better use of State funding than the conservation/preservation grant program. New York States Big Eleven research libraries are: Columbia University Libraries Cornell University Libraries New York State Library New York University Libraries University of Rochester Libraries Syracuse University Libraries The Research Libraries of the New York Public Library University at Albany Libraries, SUNY Binghamton University Libraries, SUNY University at Buffalo Libraries, SUNY Stony Brook University Libraries, SUNY Assembly Member Kellner chairs the New York State Assembly Committee on Libraries and Education Technology. He will be offering testimony at the New York City Council hearing on Capital Construction Needs and the Potential Disposal of Libraries in New York City that is being convened at 1:00 p.m. today at the Council hearing on the 16th floor of 250 Broadway. ***