Library across California are helping to cut early literacy, information access and continuing education programs after the Trump administration’s latest efforts to significantly reduce federal spending targeted national libraries and museums.
California State Library, which supports local libraries and maintains its own collections, said this week that it was notified that its program supporting major federal grants across the state has ended and cut the $3 million funds already awarded.
In a statement Thursday, California State Library said it has yet to receive more than 20% of the $15.7 million grant awarded under the 2024-2025 Library Services and Technical Act. The funds were distributed to support a wide range of programs across California libraries, including storytimes for low-income families, summer reading initiatives, work dynamics skills for at-risk youth, and opportunities to win online high school diplomas.
“We are deeply disappointed with this informed decision that will immediately affect the critical programs supported by these funds,” California Associate State Librarian Rebecca Went said in a statement. “California State Library remains committed to serving all Californians and explores alternatives to ensure ongoing access to critical library services.”
The sudden suspension of grants comes amidst the chaos, an independent federal agency that provides federal support for most of the museums and the Library Bureau, according to its website and the ASSN. Many of the agency’s staff were placed on administrative leave this week, weeks after President Trump signed an executive order aimed at further “cutting down the federal bureaucracy.” The order called for the majority of the library-focused institutional functions and several other functions to be “excluded to the maximum extent consistent with applicable law.”
American Library Assn. Called “reducing and reducing staff at museums and library services research labs, “very myopic and dangerous to millions of Americans who rely on our public, schools, academics and special libraries.”
“Library funds withdraw less than 0.003% of the annual federal budget, but they have a major impact on communities across the country,” the association said in a statement. “From technology classes for job seekers to services for people with disabilities, library delivery for older Americans to summer reading programs for families, IMLS funding makes a real, concrete difference in American lives every day.”
Requests for comment from IMLS were not immediately answered.
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