Public libraries’ essential role in democracy threatened by Federal cuts

by Denise Mackendstat, Chair, Communications and Marketing Committee

A readers' advisor gives a digital talking book (audiobook) to a patron. (Photo courtesy of WTBBL.)

Libraries and museums are an integral part of American Democracy. In 1771, Benjamin Franklin, the father of the modern public library, said public libraries “have improved the general conversation of Americans, made the common tradesmen and farmers as intelligent as most gentlemen from other countries, and perhaps have contributed in some degree to the stand so generally made throughout the colonies in defense of liberties.” (Smithsonian Magazine April/May 2024)

Despite the essential role public libraries have played in our democracy for the past 254 years, the Trump administration is taking disastrous steps to eliminate Federal grants distributed by the Institute of Museums and Library Services (IMLS).   

The IMLS, an independent agency, was established in 1996 by Congress to support libraries and museums throughout the United States by distributing grants for projects that primarily serve special populations and rural areas. 

The Trump administration is moving to eliminate the IMLS. On April 3, the Administration announced that these Federal grants in Washington State were being canceled. 

​Past grant recipients have used the money to support essential services for their communities. Museums and libraries serving racial and ethnic minorities and people with disabilities in Washington State will be dramatically impacted by cancellation of these grants. 

Utilizing funding from IMLS, tabletop game programming is offered at NOLS. (Photo courtesy of WTBBL.)

​Library use by people with disabilities
The Washington Talking Book and Braille Library (WTBBL) is the only specialized library in Washington State that serves the print disabled. The WTBBL serves 7,500 patrons per month, including blind and low-vision seniors and other print-disabled people. The libraries of the North Olympic Library System (NOLS) cooperate with the WTBBL to provide support for print-disabled residents of Clallam County. The elimination of the IMLS grant will force the WTBBL to eliminate services and may force layoffs. It will also affect their digital programs. During the COVID shutdown, many individuals could only access Wi-Fi through their public libraries. Today, libraries remain the only place many Clallam County residents can access digital services, including eBooks and Wi-Fi.
If the grant going to NOLS is discontinued, the digital materials and services of the library system will have to be pared back, if not eliminated. 

Libraries operated by the tribes
Libraries and museums operated by the tribes have used IMLS grants to add to their collections. The Andrew Carnegie Foundation funded over 2,500 libraries throughout the country including, in 1919, the Port Angeles Carnegie Library. The library building is now a museum promoting the culture of the Lower Elwha S’Klallam tribe. These museums and libraries have historically used IMLS grants to support important programs that promote the tribes’ history and culture.    

Fighting back
As with many agencies being eliminated by the Trump Administration, the elimination of the IMLS and its grants drastically affects the public. The American Library Association (ALA) and 20 states, including Washington State, have filed lawsuits opposing these cuts. Now is the time to fight back. We need to contact our elected Federal representatives and insist that they fight against the closing of the IMLS and work to restore grants distributed to local communities. 

Libraries and democracy are inextricably intertwined. As industrialist and philanthropist Andrew Carnegie observed in his book, The Gospel of Wealth, “There is not such a cradle of democracy upon the earth as the free public library.”

Librarian Corrina Desmarais teaches NOLS patrons how to access free eBooks with their library cards. (Photo courtesy of WTBBL.)

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For more information on the impact of cuts on Washington libraries, go to https://www.nols.org/imls/ and https://iexaminer.org/how-loss-of-federal-funding-for-the-institute-of-museum-and-library-services-imls-will-harm-marginalized-communities-in-the-northwest/.