The entire staff of a federal agency responsible for providing crucial funding for libraries and cultural institutions across the United States has been placed on administrative leave. This leave will affect the 70 employees of the Institute of Museum and Library Services. The news follows a few weeks after an executive order by the Trump administration was published, on March 14, leaving questions of what will happen to the livelihoods of the IMLS’ staff and the grants they were responsible for administrating.
The American Federation of Government Employees (AFGE), who represent IMLS workers, said in a statement that the agency’s employees were put on leave via email. After a “brief meeting between DOGE staff and IMLS leadership,” IMLS employees were notified that they were being placed on paid administrative leave for up to 90 days. “IMLS leadership” refers to Keith E. Sonderling, deputy secretary of labor who was appointed the new acting director of IMLS towards the end of last month.
Although the Institute of Museum and Library Services (IMLS) is a relatively small federal agency, they are vital to the upkeep and growth of libraries and cultural institutions in every state of the country. The IMLS provides the majority of funding for federal libraries in the nation, as well as support for additional programs in libraries that seek to improve patron quality of life.
On a more local level, IMLS funding aids with creating new programs, staffing, and maintenance of public libraries. EveryLibrary, an advocacy group, reports that city and county taxes serve as primary funding sources for local libraries. The group nonetheless stressed the impact of a shrinking IMLS, in a statement published by the group in response to the March 14 executive order: “Without this core federal funding for state libraries, museums, and archives, we risk losing critical programs and services in every state.”
In the past year, the IMLS reported that they awarded $266 million in research funding and grants to cultural institutions. The National Endowment for the Arts, a sister agency dedicated to offering support for the arts, projected an endowment of $210 million to award in similar funding for 2025.
The future of the agency’s work is unclear. No information has been communicated about the status of grants previously awarded or in process, but the AFGE chapter representing IMLS workers stated that they will likely be terminated without adequate staff to administer programs.
Small and rural libraries are likely to be the most affected by federal funding cuts such as this one, according to Steve Potash, CEO of OverDrive, a digital media distributor of libraries. “When a public library which has growing demand for their online and digital materials is getting any kind of budget cuts,” he says, “hard decisions have to be made.”
With IMLS staff on leave and funding in question, the future of library and cultural programs, both essential pieces to true American heritage, hangs in the balance.
All 70 staff members of the Institution of Museum and Library Services (IMLS) were placed on administrative leave via email earlier this week.
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The IMLS was one of the federal agencies named in an executive order published by the Trump administration on March 14 in efforts to shrink “the federal bureaucracy.”
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Aside from providing the bulk of funding for federal libraries, the IMLS is responsible for granting aid to local public libraries and cultural institutions such as museums.
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The future of IMLS grants remain unclear. Small and rural libraries are likely to suffer the most from these kinds of federal cuts.
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Sources: Entire staff at federal agency that funds libraries and museums put on leave; A Statement from AFGE Local 3403 on the Status of the Institute of Museum and Library Services
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