It took from April 2025 until January 2026 for the Institute of Museum and Library Services (IMLS) to have a budget for fiscal year 2026. Those 10 months of fighting for the IMLS budget came following Trump’s proposed sunset of the only federal agency dedicated to libraries and museums in his budget for the year.
Begin rolling up your sleeves and set calendar reminders: the fight to save the IMLS from closure is on again for fiscal year 2027. The latest budget proposal from Trump once again zeroes out the IMLS budget. It is the sixth time that the administration has targeted the tiny agency.
The budget once again showcases the administration’s priorities: destroying access to facts and information. It also, perhaps, showcases the regime’s ineptitude when it comes to turning the IMLS into a propaganda machine. While certainly the theft of over $14,000,000 from American taxpayers used to develop “Freedom Trucks” showcasing an imaginary American history across the country illustrates where and how the administration has seen the IMLS as a tool for advancing white supremacy, the regime has been unsuccessful in doing much more. Social media campaigns to paint the IMLS in their image have been met with significant pushback, and the agency saw the bulk of the grants it paused turned back on over the course of the year. These included grants to programs that prioritize Americans’ interests, including diversity, equity, and inclusion initiatives.
The Trump-Vance regime was dealt a blow in State of Rhode Island v. Trump, one of the two lawsuits filed against them in federal court for their March 2025 attempts to dismantle the agency. The judge ordered that no further actions could be taken to harm the department, which lost more than half of its staff in the March takeover. While the administration has filed an appeal in that ruling, no further court action has occurred. A second federal lawsuit is also still active, American Library Association v. Sonderling.
The administration was also unable to see the agency’s sunsetting come to fruition last year, as taxpayers worked tirelessly to restore the IMLS budget.
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“The president’s continued attack on IMLS in today’s budget and last year’s executive order to shutter IMLS shows the extent to which the administration is tone deaf to the needs of millions of Americans who rely on libraries every day: older adults and veterans who use library telehealth spaces; unemployed people who use library resources to find a new job or learn new skills; families who count on story time; and students and faculty who do research in school and academic libraries,” said Sam Helmick, President of the American Library Association. “The president has repeatedly underestimated congressional support for libraries and the lengths to which advocates will go to protect library services.”
In addition to eliminating the IMLS, the 2027 budget proposal reduces funding for other arts and cultural programs. Both the National Endowment for the Arts (NEA) and the National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH) would take significant hits, with their budgets reduced from 2026 to 2026 as follows: from $208 million to $28 million for the NEA and from $192 million to $39 million for the NEH.
Congress is currently on break through April 14. This period of time is when your federal House and Senate representatives should be working in their home district, meaning that there may be town halls or other events scheduled nearby where you can hear directly from your representatives. Check their calendars and see if you can show up in person. If so, ask them what they think of the latest budget proposal and where and how they plan to speak up on behalf of the IMLS when they return to the Hill.
Whether or not you’re able to speak with your representatives in person, now is the time to begin reaching out to their offices and demanding the full restoration of the IMLS budget for fiscal year 2027. You can recycle and update the talking points offered here and here, though you don’t even need to do that much work at this point. A straightforward phone call and/or email saying that you want your tax money used to support the IMLS will do wonders at this point.
The American Library Association is also asking that supporters ask their Senators to sign onto “Dear Appropriator” letters by April 17. You can learn more about that and do so here. The American Library Association’s Show Up For Our Libraries website is also worth reading and bookmarking for further action steps.
While you’re already advocating on behalf of the IMLS, take the time when you reach out also to remind your representatives that they need to be aware of House Resolution 7661, the national book ban bill. It will likely come to the House floor at some point following Congress’s recess, and the sooner you can get your opposition to the cruel and unnecessary bill on record, the better. You can find talking points about HR 7661 here. Also note that two anti-book-ban measures are floating around Congress, where you can register your support.
“Defunding IMLS and threatening the independence of the Library of Congress and National Archives signals a broader shift in how knowledge institutions are valued in federal policy,” explains EveryLibrary in their write-up about the fiscal year 2027 budget. “These actions threaten systems that preserve the public record, ensure access to information, and support free exchange of ideas. Reducing funding for these institutions has significant implications for intellectual freedom and library workers.”
The will and needs of the American people don’t matter to this administration. This zeroing out is once again about prioritizing lies and half-truths, as well as furthering authoritarianism. The fight ahead will be long and tiring, but as we’ve seen across the country, advocates are doing just that, and the cruel attacks on libraries, education, and the freedom to learn and read are being defeated. The IMLS won back its funding after a grueling 10-month battle, and while we need to prepare for another long fight, we’ve done this before and come out on the other side as winners.
You can learn more about the current state of the Institute of Museum and Library Services here, as well as access a full timeline of the administration’s attacks on the IMLS here. The timeline continues to be updated.