Contact Your MI State Representative and Senator TODAY

As budget negotiations in Lansing continue, library advocates must continue outreach to their legislators. We must ensure that lawmakers understand the importance of library funding—and that a Library Services and Technology Act (LSTA) line item must be included in the final version of the budget for federal dollars awarded to support Michigan libraries.

LSTA funds are federal dollars provided annually to the Library of Michigan by the Institute of Museum and Library Services (IMLS). Both Governor Whitmer’s budget proposal and the Michigan Senate FY2026 budget plan retained a line item under the Library of Michigan in the Michigan Department of Education (MDE) budget for spending Michigan’s IMLS funding as allocated. However, the House spending plan passed without the LSTA line item that would allow the Library of Michigan to spend IMLS funding.

The House, Senate, and the Governor’s office must understand the importance of including an LSTA expense line in the FY2026 budget. If the line item is not included in the final signed budget, Michigan will lose access to $5.6 million in federal dollars already awarded for vital statewide programs like the Michigan eLibrary (MeL).

As a constituent, your voice matters most to your locally elected officials. We encourage you to make a personal call to both your Representative's and Senator's offices TODAY. Remember, even if your legislators are not directly involved with drafting the budget, they can still talk to appropriations leadership about the importance of this funding!

• Urge them to voice support for the LSTA line item in a final state budget.
• Encourage them to talk to appropriations leadership about the importance of this funding.
• Highlight that this $5.6 million of federal money supports widely used programs like MeL and MeLCat, which provide a $26.96 return on investment for every $1 spent.
• Remind them of the widespread support across Michigan: 78% of respondents in a recent statewide poll said that IMLS funding from the federal government should remain as part of the federal budget, and Michigan can only access those funds if the LSTA line item is included in the state budget.

FIND YOUR MICHIGAN STATE SENATOR

FIND YOUR MICHIGAN STATE REPRESENTATIVE