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Continuing Comments on IMLS and Condemnations of the Executive Order Targeting the Smithsonian

On March 31, Book Riot’s Kelly Jensen published “The Institute for Museum and Library Services Was Just Gutted,” explaining the latest developments in the administration’s enacting of the executive order, including: “all staff members have been placed on administrative leave ... Email addresses for all IMLS staff were being disabled. ... Those with questions or concerns over IMLS funding will no longer be able to reach the individual or individuals with whom they’d been working.”

On March 24, SLA issued a statement from its board, which reads in part, “Eliminating IMLS will negatively impact literacy, education, and equal access to knowledge. Seeking to dismantle this vital agency is counterproductive to communities that rely on these institutions for education, job training, and access to information.” (Two days later, SLA announced its dissolution, saying that it “will continue to operate in a limited capacity over the coming months to fulfill outstanding commitments and assist members in this transition.” Although not explicitly related to the IMLS news, this decision was made “[a]fter careful evaluation of the organization’s financial sustainability and the evolving needs of the profession,” SLA notes.)

In a March 26 press release, ALA shared some hopeful news:

[ALA] applauded a letter sent by a bipartisan group of Senators that defends federal funding for libraries and the Institute of Museum and Library Services (IMLS). … The letter was sent by a bipartisan group of library and museum champions: Senators Jack Reed (D-RI), Kirsten Gillibrand (D-NY), Susan Collins (R-ME), and Lisa Murkowski (R-AK).

The Senators’ letter states: ‘As the lead authors of the Museum and Library Services Act (MLSA) of 2018 (PL 115-40), which was signed into law by President Trump, we write to remind the Administration of its obligation to faithfully execute the provisions of the law as authorized.’ The letter continues that the Senators expect IMLS to carry out the programs that Congress has funded in appropriations laws.

The New York Times weighed in with “Library Advocates Rally as Trump Targets Federal Funding” by Jennifer Schuessler, who writes that IMLS’s “19-member advisory board sent a letter to [appointed IMLS acting director Keith E.] Sonderling, stating that a number of its programs, including its grants to state library agencies and its support for Native American library services, had been established by statute so cannot be ended without the approval of Congress.” Schuessler continues, “The extent of any cuts at the agency, and potential legal challenges to them, remain unclear. But Paula Krebs, executive director of the Modern Language Association, the largest association of teachers and researchers in the humanities, said the move was part of the administration’s ‘larger attack on education,’ including an executive order aimed at shuttering the Department of Education.”

Leo S. Lo wrote an opinion piece for The Guardian, “Trump’s Attack on Libraries Was Predictable. Its Consequences Could Be Devastating.” He states, “Given escalating book bans, rising censorship and growing hostility toward educational and cultural institutions, this crisis has been building for years. Yet the predictability doesn’t make it less troubling; it signals clearly that the stakes are higher than ever.”

The Trump administration published another troubling executive order on March 27, this time accusing museums such as the Smithsonian Institution of rewriting history and promising to rewrite it again to prioritize the history the administration finds acceptable. Library Journal’s INFOdocket blog has a roundup of statements decrying it.