Tag Archives: IMLS

Take Action: Help Protect Institute of Museum and Library Services Funding

Vermonters through their local libraries directly benefit from Institute of Museum and Library Services (IMLS) funding. About one-third of the Vermont Department of Libraries budget, some $1.2 million in 2024, comes from IMLS grants. The department strategically distributes these funds to support youth and early literacy programming, supply digital resources like eBooks, eAudiobooks, and databases, and provide the statewide interlibrary loan system, among other services. IMLS was shut down and all grant funding halted following a March 14, 2025, Executive Order.

On May 1, 2025, the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia granted a temporary restraining order to block the Trump administration’s dismantling of IMLS. The decision was issued in response to a lawsuit filed by the American Library Association and the American Federation of State, County, and Municipal Employees (AFSCME), the largest union representing library workers.

Parallel to its efforts to preserve IMLS through litigation, ALA has mounted a campaign to secure funding for the agency in fiscal year 2026. ALA is asking advocates to request their members of Congress demonstrate their commitment to library funding by signing congressional “Dear Appropriator” letters in support of IMLS funding for FY2026. You can make this request using these online forms. Fill in the top portion with your name and contact information, and the form automatically adds your Senators and Representative. Deadline for this form is mid-May 2025:

Tell Your Senators: Sign the Dear Appropriator Letters

Tell Your Representatives: Sign the Dear Appropriator Letters

After mid-May 2025, you can write or call Vermont’s Congressional delegation and Governor Phil Scott directly, urging them to continue working for the restoration of IMLS.

Senator Bernie Sanders
332 Dirksen Senate Office Building
Washington, D.C. 20510
info@berniesanders.com
202-224-5141
Fax: 202-228-0776.

Senator Peter Welch
124 Russell Senate Office Building
Washington, DC 20510
202-224-4242
Fax: 802-651-1674

Representative Becca Balint
1510 Longworth House Office Building
Washington, DC 20515
202-225-4115
Fax: 771-200-5791

Governor Phil Scott
Pavilion Building
109 State Street
Montpelier, VT 05609
802-828-3333
TTY: 800-649-6825
Fax: 802-828-3339

If you call you’ll likely reach voicemail, which is perfectly fine — leave a message! Here’s a sample script:

“Hi, my name is [Your Name], and I’m a resident of [Your Town]. I’m calling to urge [Senator/Representative/Governor] to oppose all efforts by the Trump administration to defund and abolish IMLS. IMLS is essential to Vermont libraries. It provides funding we rely on to support [briefly mention a local program or service]. This funding is critical to meeting the educational, economic, and community needs of Vermonters.”

Here are other ways to help bring attention to President Trump’s Executive Order that includes defunding the Institute of Museum and Library Services:

1 – Understand the Executive Order

Read the Executive Order (EO) itself so you’re informed about its content and implications: https://www.whitehouse.gov/presidential-actions/2025/03/continuing-the-reduction-of-the-federal-bureaucracy/

The American Library Association has a great FAQ page to help understand the implications of the EO:
https://www.ala.org/faq-executive-order-targeting-imls

This American Libraries Magazine article gives a breakdown on the EO:
https://americanlibrariesmagazine.org/blogs/the-scoop/white-house-attacks-libraries/

2 – Read the Vermont Library Association’s (VLA) Statement in Response

VLA has issued a response outlining how this order would impact the Vermont Department of Libraries, the services they provide, and ultimately everyone in our communities. Read it and share it:
https://vermontlibraries.org/vermont-library-association-statement-of-support-of-the-institute-of-museum-and-library-services

3 – Explore Action Items from EveryLibrary and ALA

Both EveryLibrary and the American Library Association (ALA) have created action platforms in response to this threat:

Note: These platforms send auto-generated emails to elected officials, but you can make an even stronger impact by calling directly.

4 – Create a bookmark to put into all books that you lend through ILL that includes the following:

InterLibrary Loan is a service funded through a grant from the Institute of Museum and Library Services (IMLS). Please call Senator Welch (202-224-4242), Senator Sanders (202-224-5141), and Representative Balint (202-225-4115) and urge them to protect IMLS from President Trump’s cuts.

Thanks to New Hampshire librarians for this idea!  If anyone creates one they can share, please do! Here are some sample bookmarks.

5 – Read Library Journal’s Roundup of Statements in Response to Executive Order Impacting the Institute of Museum and Library Services (IMLS):
https://www.infodocket.com/2025/03/17/roundup-statements-in-response-to-executive-order-impacting-the-institute-of-museum-and-library-services-imls/

6 – Share this information with family, friends, and library patrons, and ask them to contact their Congressional representatives in support of IMLS.

This page was updated on May 3, 2025. (sl)

VLA Statement on the Ryan Budget

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:
Press Contact: Amber Billey, VLA President
Phone: 802-656-8568
Email: abilley@uvm.edu
April 8, 2014
The Vermont Library Association joins American Library Association President Barbara Stripling in rebuking the budget plan by House Budget Committee Chair Paul Ryan (R-WI). This budget plan seeks to eliminate federal funding for multiple programs dedicated to the public good that directly benefit Vermont libraries and their patrons.
Ryan’s budget resolution effectively calls for the dissolution of the Institute of Museum and Library Services (IMLS), a federal agency that administers grants to libraries and museums, including the Library Services and Technology Act (LSTA) state funding program. In Vermont, LSTA funds represent approximately 25% of the state’s $3.8 million Department of Libraries budget for fiscal year 2014.
President Stripling writes, “Libraries depend on the support they receive from IMLS to help patrons learn new skills, find job opportunities and access reading materials that they otherwise could not afford. More than $180 million has been appropriated to the Institute for Museum and Library Services through September 2014 to help libraries make information and services available to the citizens they serve. In Rep. Ryan’s own state of Wisconsin, more than 65 percent of libraries report that they are the only free access point to Internet in their communities.”
Vermont libraries serve the same critical role in ensuring equitable access to the Internet, books, and other educational materials. In Vermont LSTA funding has allowed libraries to create summer reading programs, offer adapted resources to blind and physically disabled patrons, provide Vermonters with reliable access to online databases, enhance public programs, train librarians, and much more.
The Vermont Library Association commends Vermont’s Congressional delegation for their unanimous support for LSTA. Senator Leahy, Senator Sanders, and Congressman Welch all signed on to “Dear Colleague” letters in support of the program.
Ryan would like to make similar cuts in federal funding to agencies such as the National Endowment for the Arts, Public Broadcasting Service, and the National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH), a move that would result in the loss of cultural heritage on an epic scale. In Vermont, the NEH has funded $1,118,552 toward identifying and preserving nearly 1,000 historic Vermont newspaper titles through the Vermont Newspaper Project. Most recently NEH funded digitizing over 200,000 pages through the Vermont Digital Newspaper Project.
Vermont Library Association President Amber Billey says, “In a budget that also proposes the elimination of community block grants and the drastic reduction of anti-poverty measures such as food stamps, perhaps it should be no surprise to see such disregard for America’s libraries. Vermont’s most recent libraries statistics indicate widespread use of services – nearly 4 million visits to our facilities, over 20,000 public programs offered, and 4.5 million items such as books circulated. Paul Ryan’s budget would seriously impact our ability to provide these critical services to Vermonters.”
VLA Statement on Rep. Paul Ryan’s Budget Proposal That Recommends Elimination of IMLS (PDF, 228 K)