By: Madison Doser
On Friday, March 14, President Trump issued an Executive Order eliminating the Institute of Museum and Library Services (“IMLS”) as part of his continued effort to reduce the size of the federal bureaucracy.[1] This executive order effectively cut seven government entities that the President determined were unnecessary.[2]
The flurry of executive orders passed since the start of Trump’s presidency in January included efforts to “enhance accountability, reduce waste, and promote innovation.”[3] Government entities have been targeted according to the Department of Government Efficiency’s (“DOGE”) determination that they are the result of government waste, fraud, or abuse of power in a proclaimed effort to return power to state and local governments.[4] However, defunding agencies such as the IMLS is not as beneficial as the President has been led to believe. The loss of these agencies has sweeping impacts on the states, both in terms of unemployment rates, especially given the fact that the federal government is the country’s largest employer,[5] and information access.
What is the Institute of Museum and Library Services?
The IMLS is a government agency that provides grants to libraries and museums to foster “lifelong learning and cultural and civic engagement.”[6] It also conducts research and formulates policy.[7] The IMLS is the only federal agency that is dedicated to funding library services in the country. For years, libraries have provided access to programs and resources such as:
- Early literacy development and grade-level reading programs
- Summer reading programs for kids
- High-speed internet access
- Employment assistance for job seekers
- Braille and talking books for people with visual impairments
- Homework and research resources for students and faculty
- Veterans’ telehealth spaces equipped with technology and staff support
- STEM programs, simulation equipment and training for workforce development, and
- Small business support for budding entrepreneurs.[8]
The IMLS assists in ensuring that these programs continue throughout the country.
Most of the IMLS’s library activities are directly authorized by Chapter 72 of Title 20 of the U.S. Code.[9] Initially passed in 1996 and reauthorized as recently as 2018, the IMLS has provided years of funding, grants, and research opportunities to libraries across the country.[10] It receives its funding directly through the appropriations process and its “spending limits each year are established in the Labor, Health and Human Services, Education, and Related Agencies Appropriations Act.”[11]
President Trump stated that he wishes government spending decisions to be left to the states. The IMLS does not prevent that. In fact, the IMLS provides states with grants every year and specifically allows them to use their discretion to determine how the money will be spent.[12] It further provides funding to individual libraries, to ensure access to education, research, and other materials.[13]
With the rise of the digital age, it is understandable that there may be debates surrounding the continued benefits of public libraries.[14] Despite the changes in the times, libraries have proven to be incredibly resilient and important, even considering the impacts of the rise of digital media and the COVID-19 pandemic’s public gathering limits.[15]
While some might believe that Gen Z’s significant social media use indicates a lack of need for public libraries, this has not been the case. In fact, among both Gen Z and Millennials in 2023, 54% reported using libraries.[16] And, they are not only using the library to browse the books but to also use the other provided services.[17] Though it appears that the executive has a generally disparaging view towards the benefits of the IMLS and providing support to libraries across the country, this is not a sentiment shared with the new generations who continue to rely on library access as the generations before them did.[18]
Impact of Cutting the Institute of Museum and Library Services in North Carolina
President Trump indicates that the IMLS is a result of frivolous spending and that its existence does not fully align with the American people’s interests.[19] However, “[l]ibraries of all types translate 0.003% of the federal budget into programs and services used in more than 1.2 billion in-person patron visits every year, and many more virtual visits.”[20] While only accounting for a small fraction of the federal budget, the IMLS has provided major support for libraries and patrons across the country.
While operating as one employer in the federal government, the IMLS has also been the major contributor of library and museum funding throughout the country.[21] In 2024 alone, it “awarded $266.7 million through grantmaking, research and policy development, to advance, support, and empower America’s museums, libraries, and related organizations.”[22]
While there will, of course, be a major national impact because of the IMLS’ loss of funding, North Carolina will also suffer consequences. In 2024, the IMLS allocated $5,089,381 to the North Carolina State Library Administrative Agency.[23] North Carolina specifically outlined that these funds go towards three primary goals: (1) community engagement, (2) equitable access to information and technology, and (3) responsive organizations to increase accessibility and inclusion.[24] The IMLS further provided funds to other North Carolina-based institutions including the University of North Carolina at Greensboro, the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, the Pauli Murray Center for History and Social Justice, and the Harvey B. Gantt Center for African-American Arts + Culture among others.[25] Without the continued support of the federal government in allowing the IMLS to proceed with their initiatives, these funds that North Carolina libraries have relied on will be gone.
In the more rural areas of North Carolina, libraries provide much-needed internet access, electronic loans, and access to media.[26] Individuals without home internet access would lose access to necessary services that are rarely offered in print format anymore.[27] These could include finding online job openings, filing taxes, accessing online government services, and conducting legal or medical research.[28] In other rural areas throughout the country, libraries have served as necessary forms of access to domestic violence resources.[29]
The loss of the IMLS could very well be a devastating blow to library services nationwide, including those in North Carolina, as libraries have been a pivotal information source in our communities for years. It is up to our legislators to take the reins and ensure that funding does not dry up entirely.
[1] Exec. Order No. 14238, 90 FR 13043 (2025).
[2] Id.
[3] The White House, Fact Sheet: President Donald J. Trump Continues the Reduction of the Federal Bureaucracy (2025), https://www.whitehouse.gov/fact-sheets/2025/03/fact-sheet-president-donald-j-trump-continues-the-reduction-of-the-federal-bureaucracy/[hereinafter Fact Sheet].
[4] Id.
[5] U.S. Dept. of Lab., Off. of Disability Emp. Pol’y, Federal Employers (last visited March 19, 2025), https://www.dol.gov/agencies/odep/program-areas/employers/federal-employment.
[6] Institute of Museum and Library Services, USA.gov (last visited March 20, 2025), https://www.usa.gov/agencies/institute-of-museum-and-library-services.
[7] Id.
[8] Shawnda Hines, ALA statement on White House assault on the Institute of Museum and Library Services, Am. Libr. Ass’n (March 15, 2025), https://www.ala.org/news/2025/03/ala-statement-white-house-assault-institute-museum-and-library-services.
[9] Legislation & Budget, Inst. of Museum and Libr. Serv. (last visited March 20, 2025), https://www.imls.gov/about/learn-about-imls/legislation-and-budget (citing 20 U.S.C. § 9123).
[10] Legislation & Budget, Inst. of Museum and Libr. Serv. (last visited March 20, 2025), https://www.imls.gov/about/learn-about-imls/legislation-and-budget.
[11] Id.; see also Fiscal Year 2025 Congressional Justification, Inst. of Museum and Libr. Serv. (March 2024), https://www.imls.gov/sites/default/files/2024-03/fy25cj.pdf.
[12] Legislation & Budget, Inst. of Museum and Libr. Serv. (last visited March 20, 2025), https://www.imls.gov/about/learn-about-imls/legislation-and-budget.
[13] Id.
[14] See, e.g., John Windhausen, Jr. & Amy Robinson, SYMPOSIUM: THE FUTURE OF LIBRARIES IN THE DIGITAL AGE: ARTICLE: THE LIBRARY’S ROLE IN THE COMMUNITY: The Broadband Imperative for Digital Age Libraries, 13 ISJLP 47 (2016).
[15] Changes in Public Library Services as the COVID-19 Pandemic Continued Through FY 2021, Inst. of Museum and Libr. Serv. 1, 3 (Dec. 2024), https://www.imls.gov/sites/default/files/2024-04/pls_fy21_research_brief.pdf.
[16] https://www.ala.org/sites/default/files/advocacy/content/tools/Gen-Z-and-Millennials-Report%20%281%29.pdf.
[17] Id.
[18] Id.
[19] Fact Sheet, supra note 3.
[20] Hines, supra note 8.
[21] Our Mission/Vision, Inst. of Museum and Libr. Serv. (last visited March 20, 2025), https://www.imls.gov/about/learn-about-imls/our-mission-vision.
[22] Id.
[23] State Allotment Data, Inst. of Museum and Libr. Serv. (last visited March 20, 2025), https://www.imls.gov/find-funding/funding-opportunities/grants-to-states/state-allotment-data.
[24] State Library of North Carolina: Library Services and Technology Act Five-Year Plan, Inst. of Museum and Libr. Serv. (last visited March 20, 2025), https://www.imls.gov/sites/default/files/state-profiles/plans/northcarolina5yearplan.pdf.
[25] Awarded Grants: North Carolina, Inst. of Museum and Libr. Serv. (last visited March 20, 2025), https://www.imls.gov/grants/awarded-grants?field_fiscal_year_text%5B1%5D=1&field_states=271&field_city=&field_institution=&field_program_categories_text=&fulltext_search=.
[26] More Than Books: N.C.’S Rural Libraries Support Changing Communities, NC Rural Ctr. (last visited March 20, 2025), https://www.ncruralcenter.org/2024/05/more-than-books-n-c-s-rural-libraries-support-changing-communities/.
[27] Windhausen, Jr. & Robinson, supra note 14, at 52.
[28] Id.
[29] See, e.g., Sara Benson, GENERAL ARTICLE: Assisting Rural Domestic Violence Victims: The Local Librarian’s Role, 108 L. Libr. J. 237 (2016).
