The Institute of Museum and Library Services (IMLS), which provides funding to tens of thousands of museums and libraries across the United States, is one of seven federal agencies President Donald Trump has deemed “unnecessary” and wants to see “eliminated to the maximum extent consistent with applicable law”, per an executive order he signed earlier this month. But, according to a letter that IMLS’s advisory board has sent to its newly appointed acting director, Keith Sonderling, this may only be possible to a very limited extent.
The Museum and Library Services Act of 2018, the 22 members of the National Museum and Library Services Board wrote in their 24 March letter, “outlines specific statutory mandates that cannot be paused, reduced or eliminated without violating Congressional intent and federal statute”. Among the activities codified by that act of Congress, the board members continue, “all current-year and multi-year grants, contracts, cooperative agreements and awards that have been authorised by law and funded by Congressional appropriation [...] constitute statutory obligations”. This includes the Museum Services Activities and Technical Assistance for Museums and Libraries programmes, according to the board members, whose letter was published in full by Publishers Weekly.
“All such statutory obligations may not be discontinued or delayed under an executive order or other executive action,” the letter states, and IMLS’s disbursement of grants is “subject only to the availability of appropriations, not to executive discretion”. They add: “Any failure to fulfill these legal obligations or to reduce staffing or programme operations below the minimum required to meet statutory mandates would place the agency in noncompliance with Congressional intent.”
IMLS, along with the National Endowment for the Arts (NEA) and the National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH), is one of the largest conduits for federal arts funding in the US. Like the NEA and NEH, IMLS’s funding comes in the form of annual appropriations that are decided by Congress; IMLS’s appropriation for fiscal year 2024 was $294.8m.
Last year, IMLS disbursed $266.7m in grants to libraries, museums and related institutions throughout the US and its territories. Those grants ranged vastly in purpose and size, from an $11,625 grant for the El Paso Museum of Art to improve access to its collection of 944 Latin American devotional paintings dating from the 17th century to the 19th century, to $369,159 for the Children’s Museum of Pittsburgh to expand a programme developing new designs for exhibits.
While Trump’s executive order seemed to signal a desire to do away with IMLS entirely, Sondering—who had been confirmed as US Deputy Secretary of Labor just two days prior—stated on his appointment that he wants to “revitalise IMLS and restore focus on patriotism, ensuring we preserve our country’s core values, promote American exceptionalism and cultivate love of country in future generations”.
During his first term, Trump repeatedly sought to drastically reduce funding to or completely shutter IMLS, the NEA and NEH, though the agencies’ activities and funding levels remained largely unchanged. While the NEA and NEH were not named in Trump’s executive order seeking to “eliminate” agencies he sees as “unnecessary”, both are currently without leaders. (The NEH’s previous director, Shelly C. Lowe, stepped down earlier this month “at the direction of President Trump”, according to a spokesperson for the agency.)
The National Museum and Library Services Board advises IMLS on its activities and responsibilities, as well as the annual National Medal for Museum and Library Service. Its 22-member board includes scholars, museum directors and library leaders from across the country, among them Kelli Mosteller, the director and chief executive of the First Americans Museum in Oklahoma City; Halona Norton-Westbrook, the director and chief executive of the Honolulu Museum of Art; and Mónica Ramírez-Montagut, the director of the Parrish Art Museum in Water Mill, New York. The board does not currently have a chairperson.
