Potential effects on Vermont libraries

April 24, 2025: Skip down for some good news from Vermont’s State Librarian!

Here are ongoing updates on a federal executive order, Continuing the Reduction of the Federal Bureaucracy, issued on March 14, 2025. The IMLS is one of seven “governmental entities” identified to “be eliminated to the maximum extent consistent with applicable law,” a plan that would affect funding of library services in Vermont.

Though the operating budgets of Vermont libraries are voted and administered by local communities, the Vermont Department of Libraries administers IMLS funds that support popular services and record-keeping that directly affect Vermont library users. These include interlibrary loan, public programs, online services, courier deliveries, building and technology improvement grants, professional development for library staff members, data-gathering on library services, and more.

Brooks Memorial will update this page as new information becomes available, adding the most recent updates at the top of the page.

–Jeanne Walsh, Information Services Librarian

April 24, 2025

Letter from Vermont State Librarian Catherine Delneo:

Dear Vermont Library Community,

I’m writing with to provide an update related to the federal executive order titled Continuing the Reduction of the Federal Bureaucracy that was issued by the president on March 14, 2025. https://www.whitehouse.gov/presidential-actions/2025/03/continuing-the-reduction-of-the-federal-bureaucracy/

I’m happy to report that yesterday afternoon, April 23, 2025, the Department received a notice from the Institute of Museum and Library Services (IMLS) for a partial 2025 Grants to States award in the amount of $622,179.00. (This partial 2025 award is one half of the amount allotted to Vermont in 2024.)

The Department is hopeful that it will ultimately receive the full expected Grants to States allotment from IMLS in an amount will be similar to Vermont’s total 2024 Grants to States allotment of $1.24M.

The Department is grateful to our state’s Congressional delegation for raising their voices in support of federal funding for libraries. Both Senator Welch and Senator Sanders took action to support IMLS funding on April 25, 2025: https://www.schiff.senate.gov/wp-content/uploads/2025/04/Schiff-Reed-IMLS-Regarding-Terminations-of-Grants-to-States.pdf Representative Balint took action to support IMLS funding on April 2, 2025: https://titus.house.gov/UploadedFiles/4.2.25_-_Titus-Bonamici_Letter_to_President_Trump_Regarding_the_IMLS.pdf We value their robust support for our library community and their recognition that Grants to States funding from IMLS has an enormous positive impact on library services in our state.

Many in our library community tuned in to the initial hearing of State of Rhode Island, et. Al. v. Donald J. Trump in Rhode Island Federal District Court last Friday: https://www.youtube.com/live/boJMbsljWQo?si=usYRCBVm6HF2WlQh Vermont Attorney General Charity Clark joined the coalition of 20 other state attorneys general in this lawsuit, which challenges the administration’s executive order concerning three agencies: the IMLS, the Minority Business Development Agency, and the Federal Mediation and Conciliation Service. https://ago.vermont.gov/blog/2025/04/04/attorney-general-clark-sues-trump-administration-protect-libraries-and-museums

The Department appreciates your continued support. We thank those individuals and organizations in the Vermont library community who have sent letters, shared information with your community members and boards, and shared stories that highlight the important role IMLS Grants to States funding plays in our state.

We will continue to keep you updated as we learn more information.

Sincerely,

Catherine

April 14, 2025

Update to the Vermont library community from State Librarian Catherine Delneo:

Administrative News

An Update from State Librarian and Commissioner of Libraries, Catherine Delneo

Dear Library Friends,

The Vermont Department of Libraries receives roughly 2/3 of its operating budget from the State of Vermont and roughly 1/3 of its funding from the Institute of Museum and Library Services through the IMLS’ Library Service Technology Act Grants to States Program.

The Department uses its Grants to States allocation to strengthen library services across the state and to support shared resources that all Vermonters can access directly or through their public libraries, in accordance with its current 5-Year Plan.

Vermont’s 2024 Grants to States allocation of $1.24M is used to support the following services and programs provided by the Department:

Access to reliable information through the Vermont Online Library and research databases, the Palace Project App, and the collections of the State Library, ABLE Library, and institutional libraries;
Statewide Interlibrary Loan infrastructure, which supports robust resource sharing between libraries in the state and expands their collections;
Shared cultural resources through library programming, author residencies, and state book awards; and
Training and workforce support for libraries, directors, and trustees including online classes and the Vermont Certificate of Librarianship program, direct consultation to library staff and trustees, and regional and topical roundtables to promote excellence in library service.

On March 14, 2025, the federal administration issued an executive order titled Continuing the Reduction of the Federal Bureaucracy. This executive order calls for significant cuts to the “the non-statutory components and functions” of the Institute of Museum and Library Services (IMLS). Consequently, the past few weeks have been a time of uncertainty for many of us in the Vermont library community.

We are deeply saddened that many of the dedicated colleagues who supported libraries at IMLS have lost their jobs. We are also saddened to know that a number of libraries, museums, and cultural organizations around the country have received letters from IMLS terminating individual grant awards and we recognize the challenges these cuts pose for continued service.

However, nearly one month after the executive order was signed, the federal administration has still not provided information to the Department so that we can determine what specific impacts this executive order will have on our annual Grants to States Allotment, if any.

Over the past month, the attention upon this issue all around our state reflects that Vermonters value libraries and museums greatly. We have heard an outpouring of support and concern from library lovers, colleagues in the museum and arts world, library staff and trustees, our congressional delegation, the Vermont Library Association, and the Vermont School Library Association. Yesterday, Department staff joined our colleagues from the Vermont Historical Society in the Card Room at the State House to provide legislators with information about the importance of IMLS funding to all libraries in our state. The House adopted a concurrent resolution designating April 10, 2025, as Museums and Libraries Day at the State House.

The Department is currently administering two other federal programs to support public libraries in achieving capital improvements. We continue to support the 14 subrecipients of our U.S. Department of Treasury Capital Projects Fund for Libraries and have already disbursed $2.3M to public libraries through this program. The Department still plans to launch its second capital projects grant opportunity later this calendar year. Through the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development Public Facilities Preservation Initiative Grants for Small, Rural Public Libraries, the Department will provide capital project subgrants of up to $499,999 to public libraries in Vermont serving rural communities. All public libraries in Vermont will be eligible to apply for the funding, and preference will be given to small libraries located in rural communities.

We affirm the Vermont Department of Libraries’ commitment to continuing to provide services, training, and support to keep our Vermont’s libraries strong. We know library staff and trustees around the state share our goal of providing vital and necessary library services in their communities well into the future, and we are here to support you in that important work.

Earlier update from Catherine Delneo: This afternoon at 2:39pm Teri DeVoe, Associate Deputy Director, Grants to States, Institute of Museum and Library Services sent the following message … “Within the last hour IMLS received word that all staff are going to be placed on administrative leave, effective today. We will not be able to work or respond to your emails, and we don’t have any information about future timelines related to this action.”

Read the NPR report on this action.

“On March 25^th, the Vermont Library Association issued a statement of support for IMLS and for library services. That letter states, “Eliminating IMLS would jeopardize the future of public libraries as inclusive, accessible community anchors. It would widen the digital divide, hinder educational advancement, and leave behind the very populations that federal programs are intended to support.”

“On March 26^th, Senators Jack Reed (RI), Kirsten Gillibrand (NY), Susan Collins (ME), and Lisa Murkowski (AK) sent a bipartisan letter of support for IMLS to the Acting Director of IMLS, Keith Sonderling. These four senators were the lead authors of the Museum and Library Services Act (MLSA) of 2018. The letter serves to ‘remind the Administration of its obligation to faithfully execute the provisions of the law as authorized. The MLSA established the Institute of Museum and Library Services (IMLS) and tasked the Director with the ‘primary responsibility for the development and implementation of policy to ensure the availability of museum, library, and information services adequate to meet the essential information, education, research, economic, cultural, and civic needs of the people of the United States.’ It requires that the Institute has an Office of Museum Services and an Office of Library Services and details the federal programs to support museums and libraries that are to be carried out by each office.’

“The letter goes on to provide information about the specific funding levels that Congress appropriated for IMLS in federal fiscal year 2024.”

General information about IMLS and the Executive Order, March 21, 2025

The IMLS is one of seven “governmental entities” identified to “be eliminated to the maximum extent consistent with applicable law,” per an executive order, Continuing the Reduction of the Federal Bureaucracy, issued on March 14, 2025. Deputy Secretary of Labor Keith E. Sonderling was sworn in as Acting Director of the IMLS on March 20, and received a welcome from the National Museum and Library Services Board listing its “core statutory obligations that are not discretionary under the law.”

Funds from the IMLS support activities of the Vermont Department of Libraries (“VTLib”), whose mission is to “provide, administer, and maintain access to information in a variety of formats to the three branches of State government, libraries statewide, the general public, and Vermonters with special needs; to support, strengthen, and foster new means for statewide cooperation and resource sharing among all types of libraries and government agencies; to lead a service of advice and consultation to all libraries, in order to assist them in realizing their potential; and to increase public awareness of libraries and their services.” Much of that work is outlined in VTLib’s 2023-2027 plan addressing needs and services in Vermont’s libraries.

The American Library Association has compiled a list of FAQs about the executive order, including a section called “What can I do?”

IMLS: Executive Order

Potential effects on Vermont libraries

April 24, 2025

April 14, 2025

Administrative News

An Update from State Librarian and Commissioner of Libraries, Catherine Delneo

General information about IMLS and the Executive Order, March 21, 2025

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