Boston librarian Akunna Eneh
explains what the deep cuts to libraries in Trump's budget will mean to
working-class communities.
April 13, 2017
DONALD TRUMP'S "America
First" budget proposal for 2018 puts working-class communities last,
calling for the elimination of several federally supported, independent,
cultural institutions, including the Institute of Museum and Library Services
(IMLS).
IMLS helps fund literacy and
technology programs in 123,000 libraries and about 35,000 museums across the
U.S.--all with a budget of just $230 million, which is about .05 percent of the
entire federal budget.
IMLS is currently funded
through a continuing resolution that expires on April 28, 2017, and additional
legislation must be passed for funding to continue.
If Trump's budget passes, the
cuts will have a devastating impact on those who utilize public libraries in
rural areas and poor urban communities in particular.
IMLS funds libraries through
the Library Services and Technology Act (LSTA) Grants to States program. It
allots a base amount of $680,000 to each state plus an additional amount based
on population.
The money goes toward library
programming directed at underserved patron populations--teens, senior citizens,
immigrants, adults learners for instance. There is also a focus on the
maintenance and expansion of technology in libraries.
For many rural populations,
the library is the only place to access the internet. In an official statement
against Trump's America First budget, IMLS
director Kathryn Matthews explained:
We've invested in rural and
smaller communities by supporting basic infrastructure and by developing
libraries as local community hubs for broadband connectivity and digital
literacy training--helping many residents gain job-related skills and, in many
cases, find employment...our grants and programs support libraries and museums
as essential contributors to improving Americans' quality of life.
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FOR URBAN areas and poorer
towns in states like Massachusetts, IMLS money goes toward projects that
enhance access to information for working-class families who aren't necessarily
connected to universities and the databases they may use.
Things like the Commonwealth
Catalog, a system that supports interlibrary loan throughout the state, and the
Digital Commonwealth, an organization that houses digitized material from
libraries, museums and historical societies from around the state, provide
access to faraway materials to anyone with a library card and internet access.
Furthermore, families that can't
afford to place their kids in summer programs look forward to the Statewide
Summer Library Program, which helps build reading skills and interest during
summer break through prizes and activities at the library.
Despite the fact that IMLS
provides the only federal funding for libraries, it's regularly threatened with
cuts or elimination. The 2017 budget was actually slightly increased, a small
relief from the
deep and destructive cuts suffered in 2012 and 2013 under the Obama
administration. Just in the last fiscal year, Sen. Paul Ryan proposed
getting rid of IMLS entirely.
The way the money is
distributed to state entities also undermines libraries' sustainability. State
governments can choose to spread the money to localities through state programs
or competitive grants. This is partially why public libraries often run on
shoestring budgets. Government funding, which could be the most stable, is at
best inconsistent.
A look
at where Trump's budget plan proposes cuts and where it proposes increases
underlines how the administration prioritized corporate profits over the
resources workers need. It's the only way to explain why libraries are being
forced to sacrifice with a minuscule budget while the Defense Department could
see a 9 percent increase.
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EVEN BEFORE these proposed
budget cuts, librarians have been on the front lines of the fight against
Trump's attacks.
The most visible and expansive
mobilization has been against the administration's ban on travelers from
Muslim-majority countries, in which school and public librarians posted signs
that read "All are welcome" or "Libraries are for everyone"
on their front doors or information desks.
Public librarian Rebecca
McCorkindale created
these images which spread like wild fire internationally on library social
media.
"Libraries are the heart
of a community, for anyone and everyone that lives there, regardless of their
background," explained
McCorkindale, who is assistant library director at the Gretna, Nebraska, public
library.. "And so we strongly believe that libraries are not neutral.
We stand up for human rights."
This is a growing sentiment
among librarians. And of course, news about the potential cut in federal
funding for libraries has again activated library professionals who are trying
all the more to organize librarians.
The hashtag #LibrariesResist
has become a way for librarians to share resources for patrons facing
discrimination--from immigrants to trans youth--and to connect people with
activist organizing.
While much of the calls to
action around the cuts to IMLS have been appeals to contact legislators, the
fact that librarians see it as part of their actual job to resist Trump's
attacks on the most vulnerable in this society is encouraging.
The resistance to Trump in
broader society is being reflected in the libraries, and this can have a real
impact on library worker's ability to demand funding for these necessary
services, beyond the fiscal budget vote.
The Trump administration has
something to fear in the potential alliance of librarians, library workers and
the communities they serve.
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