Note From Dillon

As we near the end of the season, Michigan’s Congressional leaders will return to work in Washington after Labor Day. Over the summer, MLA and other organizations supporting libraries have sent communications to Congress, urging them to support federal funding for libraries. Before their August recess, the U.S. Senate Appropriations Committee included a small increase and level funding for library programs. Now we need to remind the U.S. House of Representatives to follow suit.

While the federal administration has attempted to gut the Institute of Museum and Library Services (IMLS), it’s Congress that has the ultimate deciding power over the federal budget. If a final version of the FY26 federal budget does not include funding for IMLS, Michigan’s widely popular statewide library programs, such as MeL and MeLCat, would not have the support they need to continue serving all Michiganders beginning in October of 2026.

Ahead of the long weekend, we hope you’ll join us in telling the House of Representatives to fund libraries. The American Library Association’s Fund Libraries campaign provides template language and a tool that sends your outreach email directly to your House Representative’s office. As Congress returns to work to hammer out a final budget, now is the time to remind them that federal library funding is crucial for maintaining our statewide interlibrary loan program and freely accessible online resources.

In Lansing, our advocacy and engagement with the Michigan legislature continues. Governor Whitmer’s February budget proposal included flat funding for state aid to libraries and retained a line item for spending Michigan’s IMLS funding as allocated. In May, the Michigan Senate approved its own FY26 budget plan, which included a $900,000 increase in state aid to libraries, and, like the Governor’s proposal, a line item for spending federal IMLS funds.

In June, Michigan’s House of Representatives adopted its spending plan for the Michigan Department of Education (MDE), which included flat state aid to libraries and removed a line item that would allow the Library of Michigan to spend IMLS funding as already allocated. This summer, MLA sent communications to all House Appropriation Chairs, urging them to include this line item in a final version of the budget. Unfortunately, when the House of Representatives approved the rest of their spending plan this week, they did not amend their MDE budget to include an IMLS line item. If a final version of the state budget does not include an IMLS line item, it will preclude the Library of Michigan from spending federal funds already awarded and earmarked for funding MeL, MeLCat, and other statewide library programs.

When Michigan’s legislature returns to work after the Monday holiday, MLA’s advocacy efforts will focus on ensuring the House, Senate, and Governor’s office understand the importance of including an IMLS expense line in next year’s budget. We’ll look to all of you – our dedicated members and library advocates – to engage with your elected leaders and urge them to make sure an IMLS line item is included in the budget. Stay tuned for more details and guidance from MLA regarding those advocacy efforts and how you can help next week.

Dillon Geshel
Interim Executive Director