On Friday, March 14th, President Trump issued an executive order calling for the elimination of the Institute of Museum and Library Services (IMLS), the sole federal agency serving American libraries.  The Central Massachusetts Library Advocates (CMLA) are strongly opposed to this course of action and urge President Trump to reconsider.

 

The dismissal of 75 IMLS workers is short-sighted. The country’s 125,000 libraries need the support given by ILMS.  IMLS serves American libraries by providing grants, research and policy development, and direct funds to libraries.  In Massachusetts, these funds are administered through the Massachusetts Board of Library Commissioners (MBLC) who uses it to fund statewide services for everyone.  The MBLC receives $3.6 million from IMLS’ Grants to States Program.  They use these funds to partially staff their office, provide statewide databases, the Commonwealth Catalog, Summer Reading, the Statewide eBook program, training for librarians to increase access for people with vision loss; data collection and reporting, and the E-Rate program.

 

IMLS supports every American and yet only represents .003% of the federal budget.  IMLS funds have been used to expand technology, improve disaster preparedness, STEM programs, workforce development, homework and research resources, braille and talking books, summer reading programs for children, and to make libraries more accessible to those with physical and invisible disabilities and those on the spectrum. ILMS has a statutory obligation to state libraries including the National Leadership Grant Program

 

We strongly recommend that President Trump reverse this Executive Order and restore positions and funding for IMLS.

 

Sincerely,

Nanci M. Hill

CMLA President

4/1/2025

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