An office that provides federal funding for libraries and museums across the country has been targeted for elimination by a Trump Administration executive order.
The Institute of Museum and Library Services [IMLS] distributed $266 million in grants and funding last year. On March 31, the entire 70-person staff was placed on administrative leave, with union leaders telling NPR the status of previously awarded grants was unclear.
At the Peoria Public Library, IMLS grants help operate “Project Next Generation.” For almost 20 years, the library has provided Science, Technology, Engineering and Math [STEM] programs and mentors for children living in the area around the Lincoln branch.
Peoria Public Library Executive Director Randall Yelverton said the system receives grants totaling around $15,000 annually to support Project Next Generation. While he doesn’t think the program would be entirely dismantled by the loss of funding, it would have to be downsized.
“We won’t be able to run it to the same extent we have and I don’t know that we will be able to have the mentors that we’ve had,” said Yelverton. “So it will exist to a lesser extent and that would be significant.”
Yelverton estimated between 20-30 kids regularly attend the educational sessions.
Generally speaking, IMLS funding in Illinois is administered to local institutions by the Illinois State Library, meaning many of the programs, outside of individual grants on specific projects, are shared by multiple libraries.
Peoria Public Library participates in one of those programs: Illinois Libraries Present.
“We’ve been able to bring in a lot of national figures to talk about the work they’re doing,” said Yelverton. “Some well- known authors will be missing out on that if these funds are cut.”
While those programs are beneficial, a larger impact of the loss of IMLS funding would be cuts to a service used by every single library in the state: InterLibrary Loan [ILL].
Interlibrary Loan allows patrons to place holds, browse collections from libraries all over, receive a book within days and send it back just as easily.
“Our patrons borrowed around 13,000 items last year that went through Illinois delivery. That’s about $235,000 worth of materials. We, in turn, lent out nearly 14,000 items,” said Genna Buhr, director of the Fondulac District Library in East Peoria.
In the Central Illinois region of the resource sharing program, Buhr said the region moved about 650,000 items through ILL last year. That comes out to about $12 million in books borrowed among libraries, rather than individual branches having to purchase their own copies.
“Allowing resource sharing and supporting resource sharing between libraries makes taxpayer dollars go further,” said Buhr. “It provides additional access to information, particularly in smaller communities that do not have the funds, or as much monetary support for their local library.”
Yelverton argues ILL is an incredibly efficient and cost-effective use of taxpayer dollars.
“It’s really impressive, the logistical work that they’re doing and getting these books around in our area and you can even get books from throughout the country, even across the world,” he said. “I mean, it is a fantastic use of tax dollars and so efficient and we hate to see that disrupted in any way.”
ILL is only partially funded by IMLS funds, about a third of its total operating cost. Yelverton and Buhr can’t say exactly what will happen to the system if the funding is withdrawn long term, but they share concerns that books and information will become less accessible around the state.
“There’s a lot of unknowns at this point as well,” said Buhr. “But I do know that those IMLS funds that come to our state contribute to what is considered an immensely efficient and valued program that saves our taxpayer dollars.”
Both directors also argue that, in the larger scheme of government spending, IMLS funding represents a fraction of a percent of the total federal budget.
“Nobody’s going to see a lot of savings out of that,” said Yelverton. “But what is being done with those dollars is so valuable.”
Yelverton is putting the cuts in context, saying, at least for a district of the Peoria Public Library's size, there’s no risk of losing branches or basic services from the lack of ILMS funding. The district receives around 98% of its funding locally.
However, he does have concerns about federal attitudes towards libraries as vital local resources.
“I think maybe it is a matter of not realizing on a federal level, that some of our federal leaders maybe don’t realize the extent of libraries, how they’re being used in the country, and how valuable they are to so many,” Yelverton said. “So I hope raising awareness will make them understand some of the library's value.”
