Libraries in the News – December 2025

MBLC Starts Federal Program Rebuild – MBLC Press Release (12/5/2025)

On December 3, 2025, the Institute of Museum and Library Services (IMLS) announced it had reinstated all federal grants which were terminated due to Executive Order 14238 signed by President Trump on March 14, 2025. The goal of the executive order was to eliminate IMLS “to the maximum extent consistent with applicable law.”

Link to full press release at MBLC website

Related:

• Library Agency Reinstates Grants Canceled by Trump Administration—The New York Times (12/5/2025)
• Library grants restored after court order – The Hill (12/4/2025)
• Libraries and museums get federal funding back after Trump cuts— NPR(12/4/2025)

Blandford receives $5.4M library grant – The Reminder (12/10/2025)

BLANDFORD — The Porter Memorial Library in Blandford received word earlier this month that the Massachusetts Board of Library Commissioners has awarded a $5.4 million Small Population library construction grant to the town of Blandford.

Link to full article from The Reminder

Note: This project received a $5.4 million construction grant as part of the MBLC’s Massachusetts Program Library Construction Program.

New legislation aims to strengthen protections for school and public libraries – Athol Daily News (12/23/2025)

With book-banning attempts on the rise nationwide, Massachusetts legislators are working to strengthen protections for school and public libraries with “An Act Regarding Free Expression.” Link to full article at Athol Daily

Plans for new East Springfield Library Branch submitted to state – Mass Live (12/31/2025)

SPRINGFIELD – The city has moved one step closer to replacing the East Springfield Branch Library. Designs for a new building are complete.

Link to full article at MassLive

Note: This project is being supported by funding from the MBLC’s Massachusetts Public Library Construction Program.

Who on Cape Cod was recognized for human rights work? ‘We rise by lifting each other’ – Cape Cod Times (12/11/2025)

HYANNIS — Harriet Jerusha Korim’s voice radiated across the room as she led a chorus of “This Little Light of Mine” during the Barnstable County Human Rights Advisory Commission 2025 Human Rights Day Celebration Breakfast. Osterville Librarian Cyndy Cotton, and Hyannis Librarian Antonia Stephens joined hands as they headed to the podium to accept the Rosenthal Award at the Barnstable County Human Rights Advisory Commission’s awards ceremony in Hyannis on December 10, 2025

Link to full article from Cape Cod Times

On the Infinite Lives of the Library – Literary Hub (12/4/2025)

One might say that a library’s most abundant resource—what it lends most freely—is not books and information but time. Time to think, breathe, be, and become. Last spring, in exchange for my service as writer-in-residence, the historic Concord Free Public Library in Concord, Massachusetts lent me six months and the use of a private office upstairs in a refurbished 300-year-old house-turned-working wing just off the Children’s Room. The space had everything a writer could want: a desk, comfy chair for reading, privacy, and good light.

Link to full article on Literary Hub

The Supreme Court Just Opened the Door to a New Era of Book Bans – Time Magazine (12/17/2025)

Imagine that you decided to go to your local library to check out a book, but you couldn’t find it on the shelf. You ask the librarian for help locating it, but they inform you it’s not available—not because someone else has checked it out, but because the government has physically removed it after deciding they don’t want you to read it.

This isn’t the plot of a dystopian novel, it’s the reality that the U.S. Supreme Court has allowed in its recent decision to not hear arguments in the book ban case: Leila Green Little et al. v. LlanoCounty.

Link to article from Time Magazine

More Than ‘Dusty Books’: Why School Libraries Are Essential Infrastructure (Opinion) – Education Week (12/10/2025)

It’s a strategic mistake to forget librarians when combating learning loss.

Link to article on Education Week

Supreme Court declines to hear appeal on Texas book ban case that allows officials to remove objectionable books from libraries – PBS (12/9/2025)

AUSTIN, Texas (AP) — The U.S. Supreme Court on Monday declined to hear an appeal on a Texas free speech case that allowed local officials to remove books deemed objectionable from public libraries.

Link to article from PBS

NASA’s Largest Library Is Closing Amid Staff and Lab Cuts – The New York Times (12/31/2025)

Holdings from the library at the Goddard Space Flight Center, which includes unique documents from the early 20th century to the Soviet space race, will be warehoused or thrown out.

Link to article on The New York Times

Book distributor shutting down deals logistical blow to libraries – NPR (12/29/2025)

Baker and Taylor is among a few companies that act as the distribution middle man between libraries and publishers. The company’s announcement that it is shutting down is a blow to librarians.

Link to article from NPR

The cultural works becoming public domain in 2026, from Betty Boop to Nancy Drew– NPR (12/26/2025)

A new year means a new parade of classic characters and works entering the public domain.

Under U.S. law, the copyright on thousands of creations from 1930 — including films, books, musical compositions and more — will expire at the stroke of midnight on Jan. 1, 2026, meaning they will be free to use, share and adapt after nearly a century.

Link to article from NPR

The Most Popular Books in US Public Libraries in 2025 – Book Riot (12/19/2025)

What were the most popular books checked out in US libraries in 2025? Here are the top fiction and nonfiction titles across 40 libraries.

Link to article from Book Riot

Related:

• Genre fiction and female authors top U.S. libraries’ most-borrowed lists in 2025 – NPR (12/29/2025)

This Artist Put 2,500 of Her Favorite Books in a Massive Rotating Library on Miami Beach – Smithsonian Magazine (12/8/2025)

The 20-foot-tall installation, titled “Library of Us,” featured titles that hold personal meaning for British artist Es Devlin—who invited visitors to sit on nearby benches and read.

Link to article from Smithsonian Magazine