BAY AREA LIBRARIANS say they aren’t sure exactly how President Donald Trump’s executive order effectively gutting the Institute of Museum and Library Services will affect their libraries.
Some local librarians said they expect some of their programs to be affected, if not cut entirely, and said the cuts will have a larger effect on smaller libraries.
Officially, Trump’s March 14 order said “non-statutory components and functions … shall be eliminated” and “entities shall reduce the performance of their statutory functions and associated personnel to the minimum presence and function required by law,” California state librarian Greg Lucas said in a memo sent to state librarians and library directors the day after Trump’s order.
The Trump administration put the entire institute — about 70 employees — on administrative leave Monday, about two weeks after the initial order.
Local librarians said California gets anywhere from $16 million to $20 million a year in local grants from IMLS.
“While certainly not a good turn of events, it’s not yet clear what President Trump’s action actually means for federal funding for California, the bulk of which the state library uses to support local libraries,” Lucas wrote.
IMLS provides more than $200 million annually for local libraries in all 50 states.
Smallest libraries likely to bear the brunt
Lucas pointed out Congress, when reauthorizing the funding ability for IMLS in the 2018 Museum and Library Services Act (signed into law by Trump during his first term), said the institute is statutorily required to send federal funding to state libraries.
“Honestly, it’s the small libraries in out-of-the-way places in California that will most likely feel the impact the most,” said Bradley McCulley, Burlingame’s city librarian, who credited a “forward-thinking city council” for much of his library’s funding.
“However, it will impact Burlingame residents in different ways,” McCulley said. “Many of the online materials listed — newspapers, classes, etc. — will most likely not be available moving forward without federal funding but more importantly for some of our residents are the Braille and talking books for our vision-impaired residents. The numbers who need these materials are small but not easily replaced because of the specialized nature.”
Jennifer Weeks, the librarian for the Santa Clara County Library District, said the consequences are still unclear and people should reach out to their congressional representatives to ask them to save IMLS funding.
“This news is disheartening, as U.S. public libraries do so much good in our communities,” Weeks said. “Programs supported by the California State Library are most likely to be impacted by cuts to IMLS and include beneficial programs like Lunch at the Library and adult literacy programs.”
San Jose city librarian Jill Bourne said her system would likely lose funds for regional consortium services, like interlibrary loans (a service allowing libraries to borrow books and other resources from one another on behalf of users) and adult literacy programs.
“We have also been successful in receiving granted funds through application for specific programs, but most of these are temporal in nature, not ongoing,” Bourne said. “The loss of funds would have impact, roughly $350,000-$400,000 annually, but it would be manageable.”
“Honestly, it’s the small libraries in out-of-the-way places in California that will most likely feel the impact the most.”
Bradley McCulley, Burlingame city librarian
Hayward director of library services Jayanti Addleman said her staff is trying to gauge the impact of the cuts by putting together comprehensive numbers as to what funding it receives from IMLS that comes in the form of state grants.
“These grants can be small, but the impacts are far-reaching,’ Addleman said, citing $10,000 to $12,000 it receives for the Lunch at the Library summer program for kids who are out of school. The program feeds them, gives them free books, and tries to keep their academic skills from slipping.
Addleman said other popular programs, like music lessons, will also likely be affected.
“The long-reaching impact of this investment in libraries is immeasurable,” she said.
Self-funding through local taxes
San Francisco decided not to leave the fate of its libraries to state and national political winds decades before anyone ever cast a vote for Trump.
In 1994, the city approved creating its library preservation fund with more than 70% of the vote and that provides about 99% of funding for the city’s libraries.
Most recently renewed for 25 years in 2022, the money comes from a baseline budget equivalent of less than 2% of the city’s overall budget, plus property tax set aside of $0.025 of each $100 in assessed property valuations.
“San Francisco Public Library’s funding will not be effected (by Trump’s order)” said city librarian Michael Lambert.
Lana Adlawan, director of county library services at Marin County Free Library, said her library is primarily funded by local parcel taxes, but does receive IMLS funding through the state.
“We, of course, believe in the power of libraries to do good things and hope this funding is maintained,” Adlawan said.
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