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Executive Order Targets the Institute for Museum
and Library Services
The IMLS and six other federal agencies are the latest to be threatened with reduction
and elimination under the GOP plan
By Nathalie op de Beeck | Mar 17, 2025
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In a March 14 executive order, the Trump Administration announced its plans to eliminate the
Institute for Museum and Library Services “to the maximum extent consistent with applicable law.”
The order states that the IMLS—along with six additional entities including the U.S. Agency for
Global Media and the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars at the Smithsonian
Institution—‘“shall reduce the performance of their statutory functions and associated personnel to
the minimum presence and function required by law.”
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The IMLS is an independent federal agency that plays a key
role in distributing congressionally approved funds to
libraries, museums, and archives in all 50 states plus five
U.S. territories and three sovereign countries. In 2024, it
awarded $266.7 million to advance and support libraries,
museums, and related organizations. Its acting director is
Cyndee Landrum, who could not be reached for comment.
The American Library Association published a ringing
defense of the IMLS on March 15, condemning “the White
House assault” on the agency. “By eliminating the only
federal agency dedicated to funding library services, the
Trump administration’s executive order is cutting off at the
knees the most beloved and trusted of American institutions
and the staff and services they offer,” the ALA wrote, further
asserting that “our nation’s 125,000 public, school,
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academic, and special libraries deserve more, not less support. Libraries translate 0.003% of the
federal budget into programs and services used by more than 1.2 billion people every year.”
This is not the first time Trump has sought to eliminate IMLS. During Trump's first term, his
administration proposed cutting the agency every year. In each instance, the library community was
able to block those efforts.
EveryLibrary, a nonpartisan, pro-library organization, has already began looking to rally support by
circulating a petition in support of the agency. The petition had garnered about 17,000 signatures as
of Monday morning and has a goal of reaching 20,000 signatures. John Chrastka, EveryLibrary’s
executive director, noted that the order did not call for the full closure of the IMLS or the firing of all
personnel, but did require enormous reductions to IMLS’s services.
Chrastka told PW that the order challenged IMLS obligations that are mandated by Congress—
such as funding annual and multi-year grants—which means that the question for library advocates
should be. “ ‘How do we fight for those requirements?’ Right now, we’re talking about the integrity of
congressional obligations through IMLS to the American people in our states and our state
libraries.”
Chrastka cautioned that advocates should pay attention to the terms “shall” and “may” in executive
orders. “There are two big ‘shall’ backbone issues” to be rolled back, Chrastka said. The first is the
Grants to States program, U.S. Code 9141, a federal block grant program that funds state libraries.
“It includes collection development funds, interlibrary loan, and delivery,” Chrastka said. “It’s got
state database contracts and other learning supplements. Plus, it helps support smaller state
libraries” and addresses equity issues by supporting Native American, Native Hawaiian, Latin
American, and other inclusive library projects. The other IMLS programs that “shall” be eliminated,
per the order, are the National Leadership Grants for Libraries and Museums.
An interactive map shows how IMLS funding has been distributed to projects nationwide with both
red and blue districts receiving financial support. Densely populated California, New York, Texas,
Florida, and Illinois received the largest amounts of funding in 2024, with libraries and museums in
states including Ohio, Pennsylvania, Virginia, and Washington also seeing a significant amount of
IMLS grants.
The IMLS serves libraries and patrons from all walks of life. Grant recipients in 2024 included the
Motown Historical Museum (Detroit) and Virginia Union University’s Center for African America
History and Culture (Richmond, Va.). Numerous Native and Indigenous groups won funding fo
needs such as acquisition of books and equipment, digitization of historical documents, language
preservation, and special exhibits.
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It is not clear at this time whether the IMLS’s awards programming will be affected. Annually, the
IMLS partners with the nonprofit Alliance for Young Artists and Writers to administer the National
Student Poets Program, which presents the Scholastic Art and Writing Awards. In 2024, U.S.
students in grades 10 and 11 submitted more than 30,000 pieces of work, and the five winners—
representing five regions of the U.S.—each received a $5,000 academic award.
Yet the order has the potential to undermine popular projects that have demonstrated nonpartisan
buy-in from public and private entities. In August 2024, the IMLS partnered with the National Park
Service, National Endowment for the Arts, and National Endowment for the Humanities to
announce $25.7 million in grants to Save America’s Treasures. At the time, the promise to preserve
historic sites and collections was matched by almost $50 million in public and private investment.
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