Trump budget proposes elimination of US federal library funding

US president Donald Trump’s 2020 budget proposes the permanent elimination of the federal Institute of Museum and Library Services (IMLS) ‘and with it virtually all federal library funding’, reports Publishers Weekly.

This is the third year the Trump administration has proposed the permanent elimination of the IMLS.

The American Library Association (ALA) released a statement condemning the planned cuts. ‘Not only does the administration’s new budget dismiss the value of IMLS, it reduces funding for many other worthwhile programs, including resources for children,’ said ALA president Loida Garcia-Febo. ‘Cutting federal support for programs like the Department of Education’s Innovative Approaches to Literacy (IAL) comes at the cost of early literacy, often in the most underserved areas of our nation.’

However, Garcia-Febo noted that ‘bipartisan support in Congress over the past two years gives us reason to hope’.

According to Publishers Weekly, library funding has increased slightly over the past two budgets despite Trump’s proposed cuts.

Category: Library news International