Dear Colleagues:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
It\u2019s been a busy few weeks with both the state and federal budgets passed. I\u2019ve included some key takeaways and actions needed below. The\u00a0state budget level funds<\/a>\u00a0all but two Massachusetts Board of Library Commissioners (MBLC) budget lines\u2014in this climate that is good news. However, it is tempered with a $21,341 cut to the Board of Library Commissioners Support and Outreach Services line (7000-9101). For FY2026, the MBLC requested an increase of $414,854 to this line. Given the federal uncertainty, this funding is\u00a0even more critical for agency staff and operations<\/strong>\u00a0and was\u00a0funded below FY2025<\/strong>\u00a0levels at $2,052,927.<\/p>\n\n\n\n What is the status of IMLS? Thank you for your advocacy and your support as we navigate these difficult times together. Please continue to reach out with questions anytime.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Sincerely,<\/p>\n\n\n\n Maureen Amyot<\/p>\n\n\n\n Director, Massachusetts Board of Library Commissioners<\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Dear Colleagues: It\u2019s been a busy few weeks with both the state and federal budgets passed. I\u2019ve included some key takeaways and actions needed below. Now is the time for IMLS fundingFunding to the Institute of Museum and Library Services (IMLS) will be decided in the next few weeks.\u00a0It is critical to contact\u00a0legislators\u00a0now. In the […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":7,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[291,168,21,7,2],"tags":[6,38],"class_list":["post-1906","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-imls","category-library-laws-and-regulations","category-library-news","category-lsta","category-mblc","tag-massachusetts-board-of-library-commissioners","tag-massachusetts-libraries"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/mblc.state.ma.us\/mblc_blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1906","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/mblc.state.ma.us\/mblc_blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/mblc.state.ma.us\/mblc_blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mblc.state.ma.us\/mblc_blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/7"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mblc.state.ma.us\/mblc_blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1906"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/mblc.state.ma.us\/mblc_blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1906\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1908,"href":"https:\/\/mblc.state.ma.us\/mblc_blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1906\/revisions\/1908"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/mblc.state.ma.us\/mblc_blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1906"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mblc.state.ma.us\/mblc_blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1906"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mblc.state.ma.us\/mblc_blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1906"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
Now is the time for IMLS funding<\/strong>
Funding to the Institute of Museum and Library Services (IMLS) will be decided in the next few weeks.\u00a0It is critical to contact\u00a0legislators<\/a>\u00a0now.<\/strong>
In the federal budget framework that was just passed, IMLS is funded at $6 million to essentially\u00a0close down<\/strong>\u00a0the agency.\u00a0BUT that is not a done deal.<\/strong>\u00a0While IMLS is part of the federal budget,\u00a0Congress,\u00a0<\/em>not the President,<\/em>\u00a0determines how much funding IMLS will get.
The House Appropriations Committee is currently reviewing and marking up the budget. The subcommittee overseeing funding for IMLS is\u00a0scheduled for Monday, July 21<\/strong>.\u00a0\u00a0Members of this committee<\/a>\u00a0can be contacted<\/strong>.
This\u00a0article on BookRiot<\/a>\u00a0has valuable information about who to contact and what information to include.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The<\/strong>\u00a0federal budget impacts the state budget<\/strong>.
Governor Healey signed the\u00a0state budget<\/a>\u00a0last week. State legislators and officials are determining how federal budget cuts will impact the state. But the Governor has already been proactive. According to the\u00a0Healey and Driscoll Administration<\/a>, \u201cGovernor Healey is vetoing $130 million<\/strong>, resulting in a final budget that is more than $1 billion less than the H1 proposal and $130 million less than the final conference budget. The administration is also continuing an Executive Branch hiring freeze, halting a planned non-union manager pay raise scheduled for January, saving $17 million, and delaying payment on earmarked funds for local projects in the budget totaling approximately $125 million\u00a0until later in the year when more is understood about their affordability<\/strong>.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
<\/strong><\/a>In addition to funding hurdle, the reauthorization of the Museum and Library Services Act (MLSA) of 2018 needs to happen by September 30<\/a>.\u00a0<\/strong>This is done by Congresson a six-year cycle.\u00a0The 2018 MLSA authorizes spending levels through October 1, 2025.\u00a0It is critical to contact\u00a0legislators<\/a>\u00a0about reauthorization.
<\/strong>The MBLC has had\u00a0very limited contact with IMLS<\/strong>\u00a0since much of the agency\u2019s workforce was placed on leave. Last week the\u00a0Supreme Court\u2019s ruling on mass firings<\/a>\u00a0at federal agencies\u00a0<\/strong>seems to support the Trump Administration\u2019s reduction in workforce efforts. It\u2019s unclear whether IMLS staff will be brought back while\u00a0Massachusetts and other states pursue legal avenues<\/a>.
As I\u2019ve mentioned in previous updates, the way the IMLS funding works in Massachusetts is that the MBLC expends money and is then reimbursed by IMLS for those expenses. The lack of IMLS staff and the uncertainty about IMLS funding mean the\u00a0risk of not being reimbursed remains high.
<\/strong>
However, the MBLC continues to submit for reimbursements and\u00a0some small reimbursements have gone through<\/strong>. It\u2019s too soon to tell what that means for future reimbursements, especially with the significant hurdles that still exist for IMLS funding.\u00a0 For more background the\u00a0Center for Budget Policy and Priorities<\/a>\u00a0sums up the current circumstances well.\u00a0Read the full article<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n