President Donald Trump passed an executive order last month to dismantle the Institute of Museum and Library Services and put its entire staff on administrative leave.
The Institute of Museum and Library Services provided funding for public libraries across the country. According to the institute’s website, its mission is to provide communities with the resources of libraries and museums. According to its state funding reports, the institute granted a total of $266.7 million in 2024 to accomplish this mission.
The institute also provides Pennsylvania public libraries with funding through the Library Services and Technology Act. In 2024, the act provided $5,891,819 to public libraries in Pennsylvania.
The order will eliminate funding for the institute after September 2025. Since the order has been passed, leaders of Lehigh Valley libraries have expressed the funding cuts may have indirect negative impacts on their organizations.
Josh Berk, the executive director of the Bethlehem Area Public Library, said although a majority of the library’s funding doesn’t come from the Library Services and Technology Act, there will be undeniable negative impacts without it.
“A lot of our computer resources are provided through (the Institute of Museum and Library Services), like, we get a big discount on our internet rate,” Berk said.
He also said the library software received through the institute has databases and research tools that allow libraries to function efficiently.
Berk also said the Bethlehem Public Library will have to look elsewhere to make up the money it’s losing. He said the staff may have to cut hours, services or collections within the library, which he believes will put the community at a disadvantage.
Ali Finkbeiner, the director of the Hellertown Public Library, said the funding cuts to the institute won’t have a direct impact on the library, as it receives most of its funding through local municipalities. However, she said this cut will impact the library through a trickle-down effect.
“The funding comes in forms of grants to state programs, like the Library Services and Technology Act, and then some of that other money trickles down to other things that are provided to us,” Finkbeiner said.
Berk said public libraries are mostly funded at the local level, and local municipalities can fund libraries as much or as little as they choose.
He said the executive order doesn’t make sense fiscally, because every library is going to have to find ways to pay for their resources and take away from funding that is currently shared.
Makea Gabriel, a community member and a frequent patron of the Bethlehem Public Library, said he agrees with the ruling of the federal government, as he has seen a significant decline in the amount of patrons that utilize the public library.
“You got to think, most people do stuff on their phone,” Gabriel said. “So, it’s not cost effective, and a lot of people really don’t come into a library like that anymore because all the information is available at your fingertips. So, you know, why have it if a lot of people aren’t going to utilize it? It makes perfect sense.”
However, he also said the executive order was a bad decision from the Trump Administration, as he believes the cut was made thoughtlessly, without consideration for the amount of people affected.
He said the way he views it, the administration is cutting first and asking questions later.
“Like I said, we’re talking about a tiny line in the federal budget compared to everything else, and the amount of good that communities get from having a well-resourced library far outweighs the cost,” he said. “So, it’s just really short-sighted and harmful.”
Finkbeiner also said she believes this is a negative choice on the part of the federal government.
“Anybody can walk in and use the library, and anything that affects that I think just goes against what we stand for,” he said.
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I agree with Makea Gabriel that “Anybody can walk in and use the library, and anything that affects that I think just goes against what we stand for.” and that “the [Trump] administration is cutting first and asking questions later.” What are the statistics that the administration should have reviewed?
I would like to know if students’ use of public libraries has decreased. For example, few schools in the Philadelphia School District even have libraries; public libraries fill the gap with homework clubs and librarians assisting students with research. Not everyone has a lap top and printer; many patrons still have accounts on the computers in public libraries. Caregivers take advantage of the children’s activities. Libraries offer activities for families on staycations. These achieved popularity in the U.S. during the Great Recession of the late 2000s. Now, people find it difficult to afford vacations now that living expenses are so high.