Librarians Are Mad As Hell At The Trump Administration. They Think You Should Be, Too.

"The public needs to wake up before our libraries are gone," one "livid" librarian said.

Librarians have a bone to pick with President Donald Trump.

On Monday, the Institute of Museum and Library Services placed its entire staff on administrative leave at the Trump administration’s behest ― a move that comes two weeks after the president proposed eliminating the IMLS as part of his ongoing efforts to slash the federal government’s workforce and funding.

That matters to local librarians because the majority of libraries’ federal funding comes from the IMLS. Of the agency’s $290 million budget, about $160 million goes directly to the nation’s libraries, where it’s used to develop literacy programs, workforce training and civic engagement initiatives. Museums and archives get a cut of IMLS funding, too.

As The New York Times reports, the IMLS ― which employs roughly 70 people ― also provides competitive grants directly to libraries of various type: Recently, that’s included things like $250,000 to the Seattle Public Library to support teen mental health and $150,000 to the University of South Florida to develop library resources for autistic patrons.

The American Library Association called the proposed budget cuts “short-sighted” and an “assault” by the Trump administration that would be deeply felt throughout local communities.