In a March 14 Executive Order, President Donald Trump has targeted seven more federal agencies for permanent closure, including the Institute of Museum and Library Services.
The order states that the president has determined IMLS is “unnecessary” and gave agency officials seven days to submit a report to the OMB (Office of Management and Budget) “confirming full compliance” and “explaining which components or functions of the governmental entity, if any, are statutorily required and to what extent.” Furthermore, the order commands OMB director Russell Vought—architect of the controversial conservative governing blueprint Project 2025—to “reject funding requests…to the extent they are inconsistent with this order.”
The move was not unexpected. In Trump’s first term, the administration proposed to permanently eliminate IMLS, and with it virtually all federal library funding, in each of its four budget proposals. However, lawmakers rejected those attempts on a bipartisan basis, with library advocates instead winning budget increases for IMLS in each of Trump’s first four years in office, increasing the agency's funding by some $26 million over Trump’s first term.
In their initial FY2025 budget request, IMLS had asked for a total of $280 million—yes, million, not billion—which included just over $203 million for library grant programs authorized by the LSTA (Library Services and Technology Act). LSTA is the only federal program to provide funding exclusively for libraries, administered by the IMLS as grants to states.
Unlike Trump’s previous proposals to shutter IMLS through the budget process, this effort to slash the agency by executive order represents a new and serious threat, coming amid a sweeping effort to gut the federal workforce, led by Elon Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE).
“We are extremely concerned that the wording of this [executive order] could result in cuts to the core functions of IMLS," John Chrastka executive director of the library political action group EveryLibrary, said in a statement, adding that Elon Musk’s DOGE has used similar orders to dismantle the other federal agencies. "Congress created this federal block grant program to support and extend library services in all the states through the state libraries. While other grant programs within IMLS are discretionary, the Grants to States program is written as a 'shall.' We are calling on Congress to help safeguard every one of their home district libraries by telling the administration to continue IMLS's Section 9141 guarantees to state libraries."
EveryLibrary is hosting a petition here.
"We need all Americans to join us in telling Congress to hold the line with the Administration and DOGE and keep these core programs, especially the Grants to States funding, intact," the statement continues.
The American Library Association has also weighed in with a statement.
"To dismiss some 75 committed workers and the 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," the ALA statement reads, noting that IMLS grants support an array of programs, including literacy development and summer reading programs for kids, broadband access, Braille and talking books for readers with visual impairments, among others. "ALA implores President Trump to reconsider this short-sighted decision. We encourage U.S. Congressmembers, Senators and decision makers at every level of government to visit the libraries that serve their constituents and urge the White House to spare the modest federal funding for America’s libraries. And we call on all Americans who value reading, learning, and enrichment to reach out to their elected leaders and Show Up For Our Libraries at library and school meetings, town halls, and everywhere decisions are made about libraries."
In addition to targeting the IMLS, the order targets 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.
Furthermore, the Trump Administration's bid to eliminate the Department of Education has left another federally funded program supporting libraries in jeopardy: The Innovative Approaches to Literacy program. The IAL program, administered by the DoE, provides grants to support the work of school libraries.
In FY2024, IAL received $30 million in funding, which legislators were seeking to up to $50 million in the FY2025 budget.
