03/25/2025
Letter from Weeks Memorial Library Trustees regarding IMLS Funding:
March 25, 2025
Dear Library Patrons,
As trustees of William D. Weeks Memorial Library in Lancaster NH, our primary responsibilities are to “advocate for the library and the services it provides to our community, and to ensure that sufficient funds are available to support these services” (NH Library Trustees Association Manual).In that vein, we want to alert you to a recent Executive Order that could have devastating effects on public libraries throughout the Granite State and the nation – especially those located in smaller towns and rural areas.
On Friday, March 14th, President Donald J. Trump issued Executive Order 14238, which states that “the non-statutory components and functions of [the Institute of Museum and Library Services (IMLS)] shall be eliminated to the maximum extent consistent with applicable law,” and “shall reduce the performance of their statutory functions and associated personnel to the minimum presence and function required by law.” The head of the IMLS is required to submit a report to the Director of OMB within seven (7) days “confirming full compliance with this order and explaining which components or functions of [the agency], if any, are statutorily required and to what extent.”
The IMLS’s entire budget for fiscal 2024 was $294.8 million (IMLS Budget Table FY 2023 – FY 2025) which represents .003% of the entire federal budget. It distributes congressionally approved funds to state libraries and to library, museum, and archives programs. Over 92% of IMLS’s budget, $272.2 million, went to direct support of museums, libraries and archives throughout the United States. New Hampshire’s share of that amount in 2024 was over $1.5 million. IMLS is the only federal agency for libraries. Among the services offered by New Hampshire’s public libraries that rely on IMLS support are:
● NH Automated Information System (NHAIS) – our state’s Interlibrary Loan (ILL) system offers residents throughout NH access to a broad array of books and other educational and artistic materials through resource sharing. Over 90% of NH public libraries use NHAIS and ILL, and our schools also rely on its services. IMLS funds help pay for every aspect of NHAIS, from the software platform on which it resides, to developing and updating the shared online catalog, to the vans and couriers that transport requested materials, to the fuel the vans use.
● New Hampshire Downloadable Book Program – provides digital audiobooks, eBooks, and magazines to public library patrons, as well as especially critical service for the blind and physically disabled, including seniors and veterans.
● Technology Resources for Public Librarians – these funds are used for everything from developing loanable collections of materials, to supporting summer learning programs, to access to school readiness programs for children..
While the full impact of this Executive Order has yet to be determined, without federal funding through IMLS, these state library services could be cut, or the cost of them shifted onto local libraries and their communities. Libraries nationwide and throughout New Hampshire have already begun discussing how to address such a fundamental challenge. Further, on March 24, Representative Joe Sweeney from Salem, NH proposed the removal of all funding for the NH State Library (which is the oldest state library in the USA) and the NH State Council on the Arts from the state budget citing the loss of federal funding.
The William D. Weeks Memorial Library uses the New Hampshire Automated Information System for access to the NH State Library Catalog to locate and borrow materials contained in other libraries who also use this system as part of the Inter-Library Loan system. On average, our library borrows 500 materials for patrons through ILS, and lends 1000 items to other libraries for their use. The exchange of these materials is made possible through the NH State Library using funds provided to them through IMLS. In addition, in 2024 our patrons borrowed 2870 audiobooks, 2625 ebooks, and 548 electronic magazines through the Overdrive/Libby downloadable book program through the NH State Library. No part of these services were paid for through our local library budget.
Obviously, this is of great concern to us as trustees whose job is to support the library and its services, and to do so in a way that is fiscally responsible. If you also share these concerns, please consider contacting your elected representatives at the federal and state level and ask that this funding, and the services that it pays for, not be disrupted.
Thank you,
The Trustees of the William D. Weeks Memorial Library
Linda Hutchins, Jon Dugan-Henriksen. Michael Nadeau
Barbara Robarts - Library Director
Ronnie Buckman - Youth Services Librarian
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