Libraries across Montana await grant confirmation amid turmoil at federal agencies

Montana State Librarian Jennie Stapp is cautiously optimistic that an annual grant that benefits public libraries across the state will be fully funded amid turmoil at the federal agency that distributes the money. 

Right now, Stapp said she received word that the state would receive at least half of its typical grant, which comes from the federal Institute of Museum and Library Services, or IMLS. She said it’s not uncommon to wait a few weeks from the initial funding notice to learn a final amount.

“I feel fairly confident at this point that we will be able to retain those funds,” Stapp told Montana Free Press.

Montana received a little more than $1.4 million last year from the IMLS Grants to States program, and that spending period ends June 30. The program funds services that the Montana State Library manages but are used by public libraries and residents all over Montana.

With funding disruptions across the federal government, there’s greater uncertainty this year about IMLS funding. Nearly all the staff at the agency were placed on leave a month ago as part of President Donald Trump’s efforts to downsize the federal government. The American Library Association estimated that about 12 staff members remain out of a former workforce of 75.

Stapp received notification about the partial award in mid-April. Things looked more dire just weeks prior when the Trump administration cut all IMLS funding to Connecticut, California and Washington state. The move created more questions.

“We fully anticipated that we would be affected by that, and honestly, it’s not clear why we haven’t been,” Stapp said.

But the state library is budgeting with the expectation that the entire grant will come through, she added. Public libraries are counting on it.

“The IMLS funding from the state library supports the Great Falls Public Library in myriad ways in providing services to our patrons,” said Susie McIntyre, the library’s director. “Loss of this essential funding would be a major blow to our community.”

The IMLS program funds the shared digital media platform Montana Library 2 Go, library courier services, The Montana History Portal and the Talking Book service for people with visual impairments. The funds also support the administration of a shared digital card catalog, which turns a small library’s physical collection of thousands of books into millions of titles for cardholders to browse.

“They’re paying, in some cases, less than two dollars for a service that would otherwise cost them tens of thousands of dollars,” Stapp said.

The state’s shared catalogue and digital resources are popular among Missoula Public Library patrons, said Slaven Lee, the library’s director. It’s “impossible” to keep up with the demand for ebooks and audiobooks, which increase literacy and help people connect to resources, Lee said. Last year, Lee connected one woman to Montana Library 2 Go who hadn’t been to the library in years because she is immunocompromised, they said. 

“I think we underestimate how isolated people can be even in the city of Missoula,” Lee said. “Resources like that have such a profound impact on people’s lives.” 

Money from the IMLS Grants to States program doesn’t go directly to local libraries, but the loss of federal funding could leave them deciding how to maintain those services on their own dime.

“ So if we lost that funding, that would be a major blow to all public libraries, because our expenses would go up pretty quickly,” said John Finn, director of Lewis and Clark Library, which has branches in Helena, East Helena, Augusta and Lincoln.

In addition to IMLS, other library funding appears uncertain. Finn said that his library isn’t expecting to receive a previous grant through the National Endowment for the Arts. The $20,000 award had supported the Big Read Program, which will instead be funded by the Lewis and Clark Library Foundation. The annual Big Read offers a free featured book and hosts various community events around its theme.

“We’ve received that grant every year but one in the last 19 years,” Finn told MTFP. “We do not anticipate receiving that grant this year.  I’m guessing that the NEA is gonna be imploded here any day, so we are not expecting that grant.”

Funding is also uncertain for the Missoula library’s partner organizations: SpectrUM, Families First and the University of Montana Living Lab, Lee said. At the library, the organizations offer support and hands-on education to children and families. SpectrUM, run by the university, lost two federal grants worth $500,000, The Pulp reported earlier this month.

“All of these cuts and uncertainty will not stop us continuing to support freedom to read, to support intellectual freedom and access to materials and services,” Lee said. 

Stapp said that partial IMLS funding came out of a budget continuing resolution that Congress passed in March. She said she’ll be watching the federal budget process closely going forward, not just for the coming year’s grant, but for the entire program. IMLS was established through the Museum and Library Services Act, which was reauthorized in 2018 during Trump’s first term.

That reauthorization expires this fall, and Congress will need to act to maintain IMLS.

Stapp is already lamenting the loss of IMLS staff. She called them friends and spoke passionately about the care and attention that characterized the relationship between the state and federal teams.

“They modeled that kind of collaboration and willingness to work with us in that way,” she said. “And we’ve lost that.”

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