The Massachusetts Board of Library Commissioners has already made cuts following a Trump administration executive order attempting to shrink the agency that provides the single largest source of federal funding for libraries nationwide.
The $3.6 million the MBLC receives annually from the Institute of Museum and Library Sciences is at risk, according to Director Maureen Amyot — a chunk of money she said might seem small, but is essential for Massachusetts libraries to fully operate.
Amyot
and her colleagues anticipate that a funding rescission is en route, as
has already happened in states including Washington, California and
Connecticut.
Memos sent in March put IMLS staff on leave and
slotted a May 4 agency-wide reduction in force. Without IMLS staff to
administer the funding that goes to states, reimbursement is uncertain,
Amyot said. MBLC had to make preliminary spending cuts to get through
fiscal 2025 as a result, including grants that enable libraries to offer
English as a second language services, citizenship classes, and efforts
to preserve historic materials.
"We
cannot expend funds that would be reimbursed by IMLS unless and until
we are assured that IMLS and the Grants to States Program is staffed and
operating, and that reimbursements for the program are being
processed," Amyot told MASSterList.
Turning to fiscal 2026: the ability for MBLC to support all existing library programs could rely on how much it receives in the state budget — the agency can't absorb all federal costs, Amyot said.
Aside
from specific municipal grants, MBLC spends its federal money in a few
buckets, including on subscriptions to statewide databases used in K-12
schools, universities and public libraries; an interlibrary loan
system; a statewide eBook and audiobook program; and the full or partial
salaries of 13 of the board's 23 staff.
"We
can't function as an agency with any less staff than we have now,"
Amyot said. "The staff are our services — without staff, we cannot
provide services to the libraries that we are statutorily required to
provide."
The AG is already at it: Attorney General Andrea Campbell joined AGs from at least 19 other states in suing the Trump Administration for attempting to shrink multiple federal agencies, including IMLS. An initial hearing on the case took place before the District Court of Rhode Island on April 18; on April 30, a motion hearing on a suit filed by the American Library Association and union AFSCME is set to happen in D.C. — Ella Adams
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