NEWS RELEASE

In the wake of President Trump's Executive Order 14238 that targeted the Institute of Museum and Library Services (IMLS) and the notice that the entire IMLS staff was put on administrative leave on March 31, the Massachusetts Board of Library Commissioners (MBLC) announced cuts to library services and grants at its monthly board meeting.

IMLS is the single largest source of critical federal funding for libraries. Through IMLS' Grants to States Program, the MBLC was allocated $3.6 million to support statewide library services and grants to local libraries.

"Federal funds support statewide services that save money. They fund the virtual catalog that gives everyone the ability to borrow materials from libraries throughout the Commonwealth. They support research databases. Over 60% of database usage comes from schools. Close to two million eBooks were borrowed through a platform that is federally funded," said MBLC Director Maureen Amyot. "Providing people of all ages, abilities, and backgrounds access to information and resources that change lives is the cornerstone of a free democratic society. The MBLC will continue our efforts to safeguard the core library services that millions of people depend on."

Several states have received letters stating that their IMLS grants have been eliminated. The MBLC has not received official notice yet that the Grants to States Program has been terminated but anticipates that it will be coming. With continued uncertainty about federal funds and fiscal 2026 rapidly approaching the MBLC must take steps to minimize the risk of incurring expenses that may not be reimbursed by IMLS.

Below are the services that will be eliminated immediately.

• Explore Grants that were awarded in February to 18 libraries.
• Twelve Perkins Accessibility training sessions open to all members of the library community. The sessions, designed to increase library accessibility for people with disabilities, included topics like creating accessible web content and multimedia, creating accessible documents, and writing about people with disabilities.
• Access to training and continuing education for all library directors, staff, Trustees, Friends of the Library groups, and foundations made possible through statewide memberships in United for Libraries, the Association of Library Trustees, Advocates, Friends and Foundations, and the WebJunction Learning Place for Libraries.
• A grant to the Department of Corrections and funding for MBLC's Manga Book Collection that served Department of Corrections and County Jail libraries. The program allowed the MBLC to collaborate with librarians working in prison and jail libraries across the Commonwealth.

The MBLC did not make these decisions lightly. Delivering library services to people who live, work, and study in Massachusetts is efficient and effective because of our interconnected system and collaborative work. Destabilizing one part of the infrastructure of our library environment causes an immediate problem for other parts. The MBLC is committed to working with our partners and the library community to plan a path forward.