PALM BEACH, FLORIDA - MARCH 4: Republican presidential candidate, former President Donald Trump speaks in the library at Mar-a-Lago on March 4, 2024 in Palm Beach, Florida. The U.S. Supreme Court ruled unanimously that Trump can appear on this year's presidential ballot in all states. The Court reversed a decision by the Colorado Supreme Court that had disqualified him from appearing on that state's ballot for engaging in insurrection. (Photo by Alon Skuy/Getty Images)
Washington D.C. – Libraries across the United States are slashing digital services, laying off staff, and shutting down interlibrary loan programs after the Trump administration suspended millions of dollars in federal grants. This is part of a broader effort to dismantle the Institute of Museum and Library Services (IMLS).
President Donald Trump signed an executive order on March 14 directing the dissolution of the IMLS, a federal agency that has supported U.S. libraries and museums since its bipartisan founding in 1996. The administration abruptly halted funding, placing nearly all of the agency’s 70 employees on administrative leave. Federal judges have since issued temporary orders blocking the move, but libraries feel the pain nationwide.
In Maine, the state library laid off a fifth of its workforce and temporarily closed after losing the remainder of its federal grant. Mississippi suspended its statewide e-book service, and South Dakota halted its interlibrary loan program. Other states are bracing for more cuts as confusion deepens over which funds will be distributed and which are lost.
“The cost of providing digital sources is too expensive for most libraries,” said Cindy Hohl, president of the American Library Association. “It’s a continuous and growing need.”
California, Washington, and Connecticut were notified in April that the White House had canceled their remaining 2024 funding. “We are mystified,” said Rebecca Wendt, director of the California State Library, who noted the state lost about $3 million — roughly 20% of its annual federal allocation.
Digital services like e-books and audiobooks have exploded in popularity since the COVID-19 pandemic, but they’re among the first offerings to be discontinued. In 2023, more than 660 million digital items were borrowed globally—a 19% increase from the year prior, according to OverDrive.
“We had to tell our patrons Hoopla is gone for now,” said Erin Busbea, director of the Columbus-Lowndes Public Library in Mississippi. “They’ve been calling, confused and disappointed.”
Many libraries in rural and underserved areas rely on federal funding to provide essential services. Interlibrary loans, summer reading programs, and digital content often depend on these grants. “For most libraries that were using federal dollars, they had to curtail those activities,” said Hulen Bivins of the Mississippi Library Commission.
Attorneys general in 21 states and the American Library Association have filed lawsuits challenging the administration’s attempt to dismantle the agency.
“Library funding is never robust,” said Liz Doucett, director of Curtis Memorial Library in Maine. “This is just adding to the general anxiety we’re all feeling.”
