IMLS Funding Alert
Thursday, June 26, 2025 08:32 AM

IMLS Update: Timeline of Key Events and Status

Since March of this year, libraries across the country have wrestled with federal funding uncertainty and the prospect of losing widely used programs and services funded by those dollars. An Executive Order seeking to eliminate the Institute of Museum and Library Services (IMLS) - the only dedicated source of federal funding for public libraries - was followed by the firing and replacement of key staff, federal lawsuits, court injunctions, and calls to action. With so many updates to this story over the last few months, we thought it would be helpful to summarize the timeline so far and the latest updates on securing IMLS funding.

Read more...
 
Friday, June 13, 2025 09:01 AM

House Budget Proposes Flat State Aid to Libraries, Anticipates IMLS Funding Cuts

Yesterday, Michigan’s House of Representatives moved its education budget through subcommittee, appropriations and approved the plan on the House floor. Because funding for the Library of Michigan falls under the Department of Education, the House Republicans’ budget gives us our first glimpse at their plan for public library funding in the next fiscal year.

Approved in a party-line vote, the House budget bill, HB 4576, preserves state aid to libraries, providing the same $16.5 million allocation as was approved for the current fiscal year. This is in line with the Governor’s original budget proposal for next year as well. Both budgets propose flat state aid to libraries in the amount of $16.5 million.

Read more...
 
Wednesday, May 21, 2025 12:00 AM

IMLS Update: Current Status and Next Steps

The Institute of Museum and Library Services (IMLS) has seen partial restoration of operations following a federal court ruling in Rhode Island v. Trump. On May 13, Judge John J. McConnell Jr. issued a preliminary injunction halting the administration’s efforts to dismantle IMLS under Executive Order 14238, which had terminated staff and grants in March. The court mandated the reinstatement of employees and grant programs, prompting the administration to report progress by May 20, including the return of staff members and the restoration of competitive grants in the 21 plaintiff states.

Read more...
 
Thursday, March 27, 2025 12:00 AM

Take Action to Save IMLS Today!

Yesterday, a bipartisan group of senators—Jack Reed, Kirsten Gillibrand, Susan Collins, and Lisa Murkowski—sent a letter to the new director of the IMLS. These senators are the co-authors of the last act that reauthorized IMLS. The letter urges Sonderling to continue IMLS’s mission to engage with and support libraries and museums, as Congress intended when it created the agency. Read the letter here.

Read more...
 
Tuesday, March 18, 2025 03:51 PM

Joint Statement on IMLS from Michigan Libraries, Museums, and Archives

On March 14, 2025, President Trump issued an Executive Order (EO) that adversely affects the only federal agency that provides resources to our nation’s libraries, museums, and archives. The EO “Continuing the Reduction of the Federal Bureaucracy” directs the Institute of Museum and Library Services (IMLS) to eliminate non-statutory programs and reduce its functions and personnel to the minimum required by law. For IMLS, this would mean a dramatic reduction in its scope and capacity to support our nation's cultural institutions. Libraries and museums across the country will feel the effects of these cuts, particularly in areas reliant on discretionary funding and special initiatives.

Michigan receives modest federal funding from IMLS, but our 397 public library systems, 87 academic libraries, nearly 3,000 school libraries, 650 museums, and hundreds of historical organizations pride themselves on using these resources efficiently and innovatively to deliver outstanding programs and services. The changes to IMLS ordered in the EO would be devastating to the cultural and literary landscape enjoyed by all Michigan residents.

Read more...
 




Uniting the Michigan Library Community

MLA is proud to partner with organizations serving the library community.


Friends of Michigan Libraries logo