Final installment of FY02 Enrich Iowa payments distributed

August 2, 2002 – The State Library of Iowa is delighted to announce checks for the final installment of the fiscal year 2002 Enrich Iowa program were mailed to qualifying libraries today. The checks represent the balance of Open Access and Access Plus funds appropriated by the Iowa General Assembly for fiscal year 2002. (July 1, 2001 – June 30, 2002)

The Iowa General Assembly originally appropriated $880,000.00 to the Open Access and Access Plus segments of the Enrich Iowa program for FY 2002. Due to the economic uncertainty and talks of possible budget cuts in November 2001, the State Library of Iowa determined it was not practical to fully distribute the $880,000.00 to Iowa libraries at that time. 85% of the total funds appropriated were distributed to qualifying libraries in November, with the remaining 15% held in reserve for possible budget cuts.

Possible budget cuts became reality in November 2001 and March 2002. Total budget cuts to the 2002 Open Access and Access Plus segments of the Enrich Iowa program were 11%. The $34,715.00 distributed today represents the balance of the funds held in reserve after the budget cuts.