In an executive order on March 14, President Donald Trump ordered the closing of the Institute of Museum and Library Services (IMLS), a relatively unknown federal agency. When the executive order was challenged by lawsuits Trump completely eliminated funding for the IMLS in his proposed budget for next year.
On May 2, Trump released the Fiscal Year (FY) 2026 federal budget proposal, which calls for completely eliminating the budget for the IMLS (the only federal agency dedicated solely to supporting America’s libraries and museums), the National Endowment for the Arts, the National Endowment for the Humanities, AmeriCorps and the Corporation for Public Broadcasting.
Congress appropriated $300 million for the IMLS for FY 2025, which amounts to about 0.003 percent of the federal budget, to fund 125,000 public, school, academic, government and special libraries and 35,000 museums. The money has a ripple effect through state and local levels.
Megan Searing Young, Greenbelt Museum director, describes the IMLS as putting “twin prongs under one umbrella,” since among other services both libraries and museums maintain archives and provide informative programs to their communities.
County Libraries
IMLS provides both national competitive grants and money to states which they in turn grant to library systems, according to Mark Winston, Ph.D., chief executive officer of the Prince George’s County Memorial Library System (PGCMLS). They use grants from the IMLS primarily for staff development, including the 15 employees at Greenbelt Library, and for
strategic planning including data analysis and consultants, Winston said.
Winston hopes the continued existence of IMLS would allow PGCMLS to make more ambitious use of these grants, perhaps research oriented and some in partnership with other organizations, possibly including the University of Maryland.
Professional Development
Matt Hartman, a Library Associate II in Greenbelt, completed the Library Associate Training Initiative (LATI), part of the stringent training required for librarians by the State of Maryland. LATI extends over a four-month period and includes online and in-person components. Maryland chooses to use funds from IMLS’s Grants to States for this professional development program, administered by the Maryland State Library Agency.
When asked what the training includes, Hartman said, “What doesn’t it include?” He added, “the training is very dense but extremely practical.” It includes visits to other county library systems, to libraries both rural and urban, a chance to interact with colleagues and be mentored by seasoned librarians. Among other things, “It helps librarians answer reference questions, assist with technology and ensure equity for all library patrons, including those with seen and unseen disabilities”, he said.
Hartman particularly enjoys planning story times, held both at the Library and in partnership with Greenbelt Cinema, and through the training was able to connect with other story time librarians.
Greenbelt Museum
Young said the museum has not received a grant from IMLS during her tenure but she always keeps track of what grants are available. She was considering applying for a grant for some upcoming digitization.
The IMLS provides more than money, it also provides information. “They are very well thought of by those working in the field. I could always reach out to them with questions,” Young said. “It would definitely be a blow to have that potential removed.”
Two lawsuits have been filed to protect the IMLS. One is by the American Library Association and the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia to request a preliminary injunction, which was issued May 1 to prevent the mass layoffs scheduled for May 4. The other was filed in the U.S. District Court District of Delaware by 21 state attorneys general (including Maryland’s) for an injunction against the executive order while the case is being heard, which was issued by the court on May 5. To sign the petition to support IMLS funding go to everylibrary.org/trumpfy2026budgetimls. To send an email to Congress members to support continued IMLS funding go to action.everylibrary.org/email2026imls.
