A recent executive order by the Trump administration to eliminate the Institute of Museum and Library Services has county and state librarians concerned about how possible federal funding cuts could affect their patrons.

The executive order, issued March 14, said that the termination of the agency, along with the elimination of six other agencies, is part of the administration’s attempts to continue “the reduction in the elements of the Federal bureaucracy that the President has determined are unnecessary.”

The Institute of Museum and Library Services, founded in 1996, is an independent agency responsible for awarding grants to museums and libraries across the country. It makes up 0.003% of the annual federal budget.

 

“The benefits it provides to rural communities and vulnerable populations far exceeds the cost to run the program,” said Astoria Public Library Director Suzanne Harold.

The State Library of Oregon receives roughly 25 percent of its budget — about $5.2 million from the 2023-2025 biennium — from the Institute of Museum and Library Services through the Library Services and Technology Act.

In addition to local grants, the State Library of Oregon supports public libraries with continuing education resources, youth services, statewide database licensing and more.

State Librarian Wendy Cornelisan said that funding for the agency is included in the continuing resolution Congress passed earlier this month. The grants are sent out annually and cover a two-year time frame, so the State Library has until September 2026 to spend these funds on staff, statewide services and sub-grants.

After that, the future of federal funding to public libraries is unknown. The American Library Association sent a letter last week to the new acting director of the Institute of Museum and Library Services, Keith Sonderling, warning him not to cut library programs required by federal law.

Sonderling, who was recently sworn in by President Trump, has been tasked with submitting a report confirming the Institute of Museum and Library Services’ full compliance with the executive order and explaining which, if any, components and functions of the agency are statutorily required.

According to the American Library Association, the components and functions required by law are numerous. The American Library Association’s Public Policy and Advocacy Office is exploring possible policy and legal responses to the executive order.

 

Though the Astoria Public Library does not directly receive any Institute of Museum and Library Services funding at this time, Harold said that past funding has played a significant role in Clatsop County.

From 2010-2014, grants from the agency funded the creation of Libraries ROCC (Reading Outreach in Clatsop County).

Harold said the program was launched to provide free library accounts to rural youth who live outside library service areas, coordinate a countywide summer reading program, and work closely with schools — particularly Knappa and Jewell — to provide students and educators with access to library services, and support their school libraries and summer reading programs.

Now, the program is a self-sustaining nonprofit that has partnered with the United Way of Clatsop County.

“An indirect benefit of the (Institute of Museum and Library Services) funding is that the creation of Libraries ROCC led to additional partnership among Astoria, Warrenton and Seaside libraries,” Harold said in an email to The Astorian. “Over the past 12 years, the libraries began working more closely together, culminating in the creation of the Northwest Library Cooperative in 2020.

“The three libraries now share an online catalog and use a courier service which transports books, DVDs and other items between the libraries, giving Clatsop County library users access to three libraries instead of one.”

In South County, the Seaside Public Library has been the recipient of many grants funded by the Institute of Museum and Library Services through the Library Services and Technology Act.

 

Most recently, library director Jennifer Reading said, the library applied for a $4,125 Teen Intern grant that would help to fund a ClatsopWorks teen intern for this summer. In the past, it has received a Library Services and Technology Act grant that supported the installation of a book vending machine at Hilda Lahti Elementary School in Knappa.

“My worry about the elimination of the (Institute of Museum and Library Services) is the impact on our smaller, rural and more vulnerable libraries across the state and the country,” Reading said in an email to The Astorian. “Many of these libraries rely heavily on the State Block Grants from the (Institute of Museum and Library Services) and without this funding, may cease to exist. Rural libraries are vital community hubs, offering access to information, education, and technology, especially in areas with limited resources.”