An Executive Order posted on the White House website on March 14th announced the administration's intention to eliminate the Institute of Museum and Library Services, a small branch of the federal government that acts as a clearing house and coordinator for federal grants and other library and museum services. The IMLS has an annual FY 2024 budget of $294.8 million according to information posted by the agency.
Other federal agencies targeted for elimination by the order are: the Federal Mediation and Conciliation Service; the United States Agency for Global Media; the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars in the Smithsonian Institution; the United States Interagency Council on Homelessness; the Community Development Financial Institutions Fund; and the Minority Business Development Agency.
Reaction to the order was not long in coming. The next day the American Library Association issued a response that read in part, “To dismiss some 75 committed workers and mission of an agency that advances opportunity and learning is to dismiss the aspirations and everyday needs of millions of Americans. And those who will feel that loss most keenly live in rural communities.
“As seedbeds of literacy and innovation, our nation’s 125,000 public, school, academic and special libraries deserve more, not less support. Libraries of all types translate 0.003% of the federal budget into programs and services used in more than 1.2 billion in-person patron visits every year, and many more virtual visits.”
An American Libraries article posted March 19th led off with: “Since President Trump retook office on January 20, libraries and librarianship have been assaulted via executive orders and other actions.
“While the legality of many of these actions is still being decided by the courts, librarians, archivists, and other information professionals have been working through the confusion to preserve access to information." The article listed examples of the challenges libraries have faced over the past two months and the ways in which librarians and advocates have responded—and continue to respond.
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Institute of Museum and Library Services threatened
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Previously available public data deleted
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Employees fired from federal libraries and the National Archives
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Books removed from school libraries on military bases
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The fates of federal grants remain unclear
The story provides numerous links to a number of current and contemplated actions in each category.
A BookRiot story from March 17 also recapped the Executive Order and its implications, but took a more activist stance suggesting multiple ways to oppose the cuts.
BookRiot wrote: “It is crucial that library advocates speak up now, whether or not you’ve been engaged in pro-library advocacy since the astronomical rise of targeted attacks on these public institutions of democracy over the last several years….Here’s how you can speak up in support of the IMLS and libraries right now:
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Sign the petition at EveryLibrary to stop Trump’s Executive Order seeking to gut the IMLS then share it with your networks.
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Write a letter to each of your Senators and to your Representative at the federal level. You can find your Senators here and your Representative here.
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All you need to say in this letter is that you, a resident of their district, demand they speak up and defend the budget of IMLS. Include a short statement of where and how you value the library, as well as its importance in your community. This can be as short as “I use the library to find trusted sources of information, and every time I am in there, the public computers are being used by a variety of community members doing everything from applying for jobs to writing school papers. Cutting the funds for libraries will further harm those who lack stable internet, who cannot afford a home library, and who seek the opportunities to engage in programming, learning, enrichment, and entertainment in their own community. Public libraries help strengthen reading and critical thinking skills for all ages.” In those letters, consider noting that the return on investment on libraries is astronomical. You can use data from EveryLibrary.
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Call the offices of each of your Senators and Representatives in Congress. Yes, they’ll be busy. Yes, the voice mails will be full. KEEP CALLING. Get your name on the record against IMLS cuts. Do this in addition to writing a letter. If making a call creates anxiety, use a tool like 5 Calls to create a script you can read when you reach a person or voice mail.
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Though your state-level representatives will not have the power to impact what happens with IMLS, this is your time to reach out to each of your state representatives to emphasize the importance of your state’s public libraries. Note that in light of potential cuts from the federal government, you advocate for stronger laws protecting libraries and library workers, as well as stronger funding models for these institutions.
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Show up at your next public library meeting, either in person at a board meeting or via an email or letter, and tell the library how much it means to you. In an era where information that is not written down and documented simply doesn’t exist, nothing is more crucial than having your name attached to some words about the importance of your public library. This does not need to be genius work–tell the library how you use their services and how much they mean to you as a taxpayer.
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Tell everyone you know what is at stake. If you’ve not been speaking up for public institutions over the last several years, despite the red flags and warnings that have been building and building, it is not too late to begin now. EveryLibrary’s primer and petition is an excellent resource to give folks who may be unaware of what’s going on–or who want just the most important information.
Note: IMLS funding cuts will impact museums as well. For more information on the impact of IMLS on museums, take some time to read this press release from the American Alliance of Museums. This includes several template letters and scripts for reaching out to your representatives.
RBH readers who follow Reddit will find ample commentary directly from those affected in the Reddit sub r/libraries. Though Reddit posts are anonymous they are often more timely and sometimes contain information that does not appear in major media.
