An executive order signed by President Donald Trump could have significant consequences for libraries across Kansas. On March 14, the Trump administration issued an order to dismantle seven federal agencies, one of which is the Institute of Museum and Library Services (IMLS), an agency that plays a crucial role in supporting libraries nationwide.
Established in 1996 by Congress through the Museum and Library Services Act, the IMLS provides essential funding to cultural and educational institutions, including art, science, and history museums, zoos, aquariums, botanical gardens, and historic sites. Public, academic, school, and research libraries also rely on the agency for financial support.
For libraries, IMLS funding can be used for a wide range of purposes, from upgrading technology, such as virtual reality learning stations and AI-assisted research tools, to digitizing rare books. Additionally, the agency supports community-based programs in libraries, including early childhood reading initiatives and workshops designed to help individuals secure employment.
IN KANSAS, the IMLS funds the state’s Library Services & Technology Act (LSTA) grant, which accounts for 30% of the state library’s budget.
“That includes six staff people at the state library,” said Sharon Moreland, director of the Southeast Kansas Library System and Iola Public Library. Notably, one of the state-funded positions affected would be the director of Talking Books, a program that assists the blind and handicapped.
Cuts would also impact all of the statewide databases.
Moreland highlighted that these databases are essential for academic libraries at community colleges and universities in southeast Kansas, particularly for accreditation.
“Especially the nursing journals that are available through the state library databases,” she said. “Our academic libraries rely solely on the state library databases.
“If you go to Allen Community College, the only databases that you have access to are the state’s.”
This reaches even further than the colleges, said Moreland. “These are also the databases that they use at the public schools, so this is a big part of education.”
THE LSTA grant, which is renewed every five years, is currently secured through September 2026.
“What the state library is hoping for is that the grant is reauthorized and that it is considered essential,” said Moreland.
The grant funding trickles down to the public libraries in Kansas, said Moreland. “It supports our summer reading program,” she noted.
Moreland noted cuts to the state library would also affect how libraries across the state complete their budgets.
An associate of Moreland’s, whose position is on the chopping block, “helps us with our state statistical report that every library board has to complete annually,” she said “She’s the one that works with us to make sure everybody’s budget gets done and certified. The state library taking a one-third hit to their budget is pretty impactful.”
“We think that the state library, and the services they provide, are very efficient,” Moreland continued.
