Category: Library News

Bipartisan Senate Support Letter

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: March 26, 2025

CONTACT: Chip Unruh (Reed), 202-224-4642

Ishya Verma (Gillibrand), 202-224-4451

Blake Kernen (Collins), 202-997-6623

Joseph Plesha (Murkowski), 202-224-6665

Reed Leads Bipartisan Effort to Preserve Support for Public Libraries & Museums

WASHINGTON, DC – U.S. Senator Jack Reed, the leading champion for public libraries in the U.S. Congress, today led the co-authors of the last reauthorization of the Museum and Library Services Act in sending a letter to the acting director of the Institute of Museum and Library Services (IMLS) seeking assurances that allocated federal funding for IMLS will be implemented in a manner that is consistent with bipartisan approved appropriations laws.

Senator Reed was joined by U.S. Senators Kirsten Gillibrand (D-NY), Susan Collins (R-ME), and Lisa Murkowski (R-AK) in writing to IMLS Acting Director Keith Sonderling urging him to continue IMLS’s mission to engage with and support libraries and museums, as Congress intended when it created the agency. The letter comes in response to a March 14, 2025 executive order [whitehouse.gov] issued by President Trump that seeks to eliminate the IMLS to the greatest extent possible under the law along with several other federal agencies and services.

“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 Senators wrote.  “The MLSA established the Institute of Museum and Library Services (IMLS) and tasked the Director with the “primary responsibility for the development and implementation of policy to ensure the availability of museum, library, and information services adequate to meet the essential information, education, research, economic, cultural, and civic needs of the people of the United States.”

Senator Reed and his colleagues called attention to the fact that IMLS is the largest supporter and investor in public libraries, museums, and archives across the nation which all play critical roles in strengthening local communities.

Federal funding made available through IMLS programs help to ensure that all Americans, regardless of income or socioeconomic background, have access to free books, services, skills and career training, internet connection, and much more that is provided through the nation’s system of public libraries as well as educational and cultural enrichment provided through local museums.

The Senators continued: “Libraries and museums play a vital role in our communities. Libraries offer access for all to essential information and engagement on a wide range of topics, including skills and career training, broadband, and computing services. IMLS grants enable libraries to develop services in every community throughout the nation, including people of diverse geographic, cultural, and socioeconomic backgrounds, individuals with disabilities, residents of rural and urban areas, Native Americans, military families, veterans, and caregivers. Museums serve not only as centers for education but also as drivers of local economic development.”

In an effort to ensure that the Trump Administration keeps true to the spirit of the law when it comes to funding IMLS and disbursing federal funding through its grant programs, the Senators said: “We expect that the Administration will implement the Full-Year Continuing Appropriations and Extensions Act of 2025 in a manner consistent with these allocations enacted in Fiscal Year 2024. We also expect that the Administration will allow the IMLS to engage with and support both libraries and museums as Congress intended and as authorized in the MLSA.”

Read the full text of the letter [reed.senate.gov] at Senator Reed’s Office online.

Executive Order re IMLS – effects in Massachusetts

Dear Colleagues:

On Friday, March 14, President Trump signed an executive order that targets federal funding to libraries and museums through the Institute of Museum and Library Services (IMLS). IMLS is the single largest source of critical federal funding for libraries. IMLS’ entire program of service costs 87 cents per person (US population July 2024).

From the executive order:
This order continues the reduction in the elements of the Federal bureaucracy that the President has determined are unnecessary.

The non-statutory components and functions of the following governmental entities shall be eliminated to the maximum extent consistent with applicable law, and such entities shall reduce the performance of their statutory functions and associated personnel to the minimum presence and function required by law.

Why this matters to you and to Massachusetts libraries:
The Massachusetts Board of Library Commissioners receives $3.6 million from IMLS’ Grants to States Program. The MBLC uses these funds for statewide services for everyone, including:

  • MBLC staff: 13 of the MBLC’s 23 staff members are at least partially funded through IMLS (5 fully funded, 8 partially funded)
  • Statewide research databases
  • The Commonwealth Catalog (ComCat)
  • Summer Reading
  • The Statewide eBook Program (Library eBooks and AudioBooks-LEA) Funding for the eBook platform and some eBook content.
  • Statewide trainings for librarians to increase access for people with vision loss
  • Data collection and reporting
  • Federal funding also supports the E-Rate program

Key Points to remember:

  • IMLS’ Grants to States Program (which is how Massachusetts and every other state gets federal funding for libraries) is in statute, Chapter 72 of Title 20 of the U.S. Code, so we’ll be getting more information to clarify the impact of this executive order.
  • EveryLibrary has provided helpful statutory information
  • The MBLC has been contingency planning for several months and if federal funds are eliminated or greatly reduced, it will act to preserve the core library services it provides.
  • Everyone can take action to stop the targeted attacks on libraries.

Empowered by Libraries (MBLC)
EveryLibrary Petition: Stop Trump’s E.O. Attacks on Federal Funding for Libraries
Show Up For Our Libraries (ALA)
Federal Legislators: FIND YOUR MEMBER
State Legislators: FIND YOUR LEGISLATOR

Questions about MBLC services:

Is the State Aid to Public Libraries Program affected by federal funding? State Aid Grant Awards that public libraries receive through the State Aid to Public Libraries are fully funded by the annual state budget line 7000-9501. Not federal funding. However, all staff who work in the State Aid Unit are funded in part through federal funding. Data reporting through ARIS will continue.

What do I do if I have an LSTA grant from the MBLC? If you received a federal grant (LSTA) from the MBLC in July 2024, your grant is secure and you should proceed with your intended service. For libraries that recently were awarded Explore Grants, the MBLC is proceeding with grant disbursement as planned. Should that change the MBLC will reach out to individual grant recipients.

Are the grants from Massachusetts Public Library Construction Program (MPLCP) affected by federal funding? The MPLCP is not federally funded. Governor Maura Healey and the State Legislature included $150 million for the MPLCP in the Economic Development Bill.

Are any of the MBLC services going to be immediately affected? Right now, statewide databases, ComCat, and the other services the MBLC provides (mentioned above) will continue. Should that change, the MBLC will notify the library community immediately.

The executive order raises many questions about which programs are statutory, and which are discretionary. In the days ahead, the MBLC will work with our state and federal partners to determine a course of action and provide you with more information as it becomes available. Please reach out with questions anytime.

Sincerely,
Maureen Amyot
Director, Massachusetts Board of Library Commissioners

Read the COSLA statement on the Executive order impacting IMLS

The End of a (Construction) Chapter

By Lauren Stara, Library Building Specialist

We are delighted to announce the completion of the waiting list from the 2016-2017 Grant Round for the Massachusetts Public Library Construction Program (MPLCP). In July of 2017, the Commissioners approved immediate funding for nine construction projects and placed 24 municipalities on a waiting list for funding as our annual capital budget allowed. Because of escalating construction costs, it’s taken six years to make our way through the waiting list. The final three communities’ provisional grants were awarded by the Commissioners at their monthly meeting on July 13.

Despite the effects of the pandemic, the proportion of declined grants is in line with MPLCP history. Between 25% and 30% of municipalities have declined MPLCP grants in rounds over the last 35 years.

2016-2017 Construction Grant Round – statistics to date:

  • 33 projects approved for funding in 2017
  • 13 projects completed
  • 2 projects under construction
  • 5 projects in final planning
  • 2 projects awarded provisional grants with local funding approved & final planning underway
  • 1 project awarded a provisional grant with local funding to be approved
  • 10 grants declined

(2023 Map of New Libraries in MA and library construction in the past 20 years.)

For more details about the projects and municipalities funded, visit the MBLC’s website page on Construction Programs and Support.

As you may know, we have already launched the the 2023-2024 grant round, which follows a new competitive, single-application process, combining the old Planning & Design grant round with the old Construction grant round. This streamlining eliminates approximately two years from the former project timeline, which we hope will result in more success in passing local funding and lower escalation for awarded projects. As a result of our Small Library Pilot Project, we also added a new grant category for small population towns of under 2,500. We received 27 Letters of Intent to apply for the new grant round, with applications due in May of 2024. We anticipate that the Commissioners will approve these grants in October of 2024, after the independent review process.For more information about the new grant round, visit the MBLC’s Construction Programs and Support page.

If you have any questions about the MPLCP, please contact me at lauren.stara@mass.gov or Andrea Bono-Bunker at andrea.bunker@mass.gov.

Art to reflect the community: Forbes Library uses anonymous donation to purchase a range of BIPOC art

A couple years ago, Forbes Library received a $10,000 donation from a donor who wanted to remain anonymous but also wanted the money used for a very specific purpose: to broaden the Northampton library’s permanent art collection.
The library donor — the person lives in the area, according to Downing — told Forbes officials that the library “ideally should reflect the more diverse community we have today, as it’s a community space itself, and we agree,” Downing said.

Read more from Hampshire Gazette

You can now check out an all-terrain wheelchair at the Bushnell-Sage Library in Sheffield

SHEFFIELD — For those who can’t go into the woods without help, Sheffield has a solution.
With a state grant, the town bought a “GRIT Freedom Chair” that can be borrowed from the Bushnell-Sage Library’s “Library of Things” by those from any city or town with a CW Mars system library card.

Read more from Berkshire Eagle

Young Gloucester Scientist’s Club is full STEM ahead


The club is the brainchild of Sawyer Free Library Children’s Librarian Marisa Hall, who has been looking to expand the library’s STEM offerings. The club will meet one Friday a month after school starting Friday and running through May. Hall hopes to connect kids to opportunities they may not be aware of in Gloucester.
“This project connects them to a sense of ‘place’ by using our own community’s physical resources and social connections to introduce them to new and innovative STEM concepts and topics,” Hall said in a prepared statement.

Read more from the Gloucester Times

Melrose Moves Forward With Library Project After Cost Increase

(Patch) Melrose’s long-awaited library renovation project recently took a step forward with the signing of a contract to begin the project’s construction phase, Mayor Paul Brodeur announced on Wednesday.
Following uncertainty over potential cost increases in recent months, Brodeur confirmed that the cost of the city’s contract with the Massachusetts-based Castagna Construction Corporation is roughly 12% higher than estimates available when the City Council approved the project last year.
The city has adjusted, though, with officials saying this week that a combination of state, federal and Library Trustees money has allowed the project to proceed without a need for new city bond funding.

Read more from Patch



Need a mobile hotspot for internet service? Try a Cape Cod library

Can you imagine not having access to the internet? For most, the internet is more than just a way to read news or go on social media. It can be essential for education, work and even health care. With a grant from the Massachusetts Board of Library Commissioners, libraries have been able to bolster their programs for mobile hotspots, allowing more library patrons to “borrow the internet.”

Read more from the Cape Cod Times