Federal grants to modernize public libraries, with local cost-sharing required.
H.R. 10931 — Library Construction and Modernization Act of 2026 · Filed by Thomas Kean (R-NJ) · Introduced Oct 29, 2026 · Referred to committee
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What it does
This bill creates a federal grant program through the Institute of Museum and Library Services to help states, local governments, and their agencies build, acquire, renovate, or repair public library buildings. Eligible entities can use grants to construct new libraries, add to existing ones, upgrade energy efficiency, modernize facilities for health and safety compliance, or fix deteriorated roofs, plumbing, HVAC, and other systems. The federal government will cover up to 50% of project costs; the rest must come from local or state funds.
Why we flagged it
The bill's sole operative mechanism is a competitive grant program for public library construction and renovation. It is straightforward infrastructure legislation with no hidden provisions, tax carve-outs, or private-sector giveaways.
What the text implies
- Grant program requires 50% local/state cost-sharing, which may disadvantage economically distressed communities with limited municipal budgets and may widen library infrastructure disparities between wealthy and poor jurisdictions.
- Bill does not specify total appropriation amount or per-grant caps, leaving actual funding level and program scope dependent on future appropriations decisions.
- Competitive grant process may favor larger, better-resourced municipalities with grant-writing capacity over smaller rural or tribal libraries lacking administrative infrastructure.
Section numbers refer to the bill text the analysis read — linked under Primary records below.
Who it affects
The bill directly funds infrastructure improvements to public libraries, which are free community resources used by millions of citizens for education, research, job training, and civic engagement. Modernized facilities with better energy efficiency, accessibility, and safety standards improve service quality and reduce long-term operating costs borne by taxpayers.
Named in the bill
Institute of Museum and Library Services (IMLS), Director of IMLS, State governments, Local governments, Public libraries
Where it stands
- Oct 29, 2026 — Introduced · Congress.gov: “Introduced in House”
- Oct 29, 2026 — Referred to House Committee on Education and Workforce · Congress.gov: “Referred to the House Committee on Education and Workforce”
Dates and quoted wording are Congress.gov's action record; the timeline shows status changes, not every procedural step.
How this was measured
Analysis — Quorum's AI read the bill text published by Congress.gov (2,039 characters) on Oct 31, 2026. Section numbers in the findings refer to that text, linked below; transparency and hidden-provision scores are compared against the median of 16,778 analysed bills.
Status and sponsors — Congress.gov's bill record — actions, committee referrals and cosponsors — loaded nightly. The timeline shows status changes, not every procedural action.
As of — page rendered 2026-10-31.
“Federal grants to modernize public libraries, with local cost-sharing required.” QuorumCivic. https://share.quorumcivic.app/bill/119/hr10931 Report an error
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