FAQ: Executive Order Targeting IMLS
Last Updated April 23, 2025
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On March 14, President Trump issued an Executive Order intended to dismantle the only federal agency dedicated to funding library services, the Institute of Museum and Library Services (IMLS), as well as six other agencies. This set of frequently asked questions is intended to help library workers, library advocates, and library users understand this Executive Order.
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What does this Executive Order do?
Executive Order 14238 directs that seven agencies, including the Institute of Museum and Library Services (IMLS), be eliminated to the maximum extent of the law and the agencies are ordered to reduce their services and personnel to the minimum amount required to perform the functions required by law.
The announcement also orders the federal budget agency, the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) to reject any budget requests from IMLS (and the other six named agencies) other than funds needed to shut down the agency.
What is ALA doing?
The American Library Association is fighting for IMLS to be preserved and to continue supporting our nation’s 125,000 public, school, academic, and special libraries.
Our policy and advocacy team in Washington DC is working with partners and library supporters across the country to advocate for IMLS.
On April 6, ALA and the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees filed a federal lawsuit, and on April 10, a motion for a preliminary injunction (PDF) to stop the dismantling of IMLS.
Additionally, ALA leaders are raising awareness in the media of the devastating impact that eliminating IMLS will have on communities. ALA is also working with chapters to engage members of Congress in their state and to educate their elected officials on the impact of federal dollars to libraries on their constituents. Finally, we are mobilizing our members and library lovers everywhere to contact their members of Congress, and to make their voices heard.
What can I do?
We need every library supporter to show up and make their voices heard. Here are concrete, effective actions you can take now:
- Send a message to your Senators and Representatives urging them to overturn the executive order and protect IMLS funding.
- Call your Senators and Representatives urging them to overturn the executive order and protect IMLS funding.
- Send this action alert to five people in your network.
- Write a letter to the editor in your local newspaper explaining why IMLS is important and the impact of federal dollars on communities.
- Share your story for ALA’s story collection about the impact of federal funding on your community.
- Sign up for future action alerts from ALA.
- Join ALA or renew your membership.
- Become a Supporter of the American Library Association
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Is IMLS being eliminated?
The clear intent of the Executive Order, as stated in the language of the order, is to eliminate IMLS. Since the Executive Order was issued, the Administration has taken several steps to dismantle IMLS. This includes:
- Terminating grants.
- Terminating contracts.
- Appointing Acting Director Kevin Sonderling, who stated that he will act "in lockstep" with the Administration.
- Reportedly putting all but 12 of the agency's staff of approximately 75 employees on paid administrative leave and sending staff a notice of an agency-wide reduction in force to take place May 4.
In addition, the order directs OMB to reject funding requests from IMLS “except insofar as necessary to effectuate an expected termination” of the agency. Therefore, it is expected that the President’s future budget requests will propose no future funding for IMLS, or only minimal funding for closing out the agency’s functions. The President’s next budget request is expected in approximately May 2025, which will propose government funding for fiscal year 2026 which begins October 1, 2025. If Congress accepts such a budget proposal and fails to provide funding for IMLS in fiscal year 2026, the agency and its programs will shut down.
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What statutes apply to IMLS?
The Museum and Library Services Act (MLSA) is the law that established IMLS. MLSA codifies the agency’s programs under the Library Services & Technology Act (LSTA) and the Museum Services Act, as well as other agency activities like data collection and the National Museum and Library Services Board. MLSA was first enacted in 1996 and has been reauthorized on a bipartisan basis several times since then – most recently in 2018, which was signed into law by President Trump.
Appropriations laws also apply to IMLS. Congress provides funding to IMLS annually through appropriations laws, most recently in the law enacted on March 15, 2025. These laws direct federal agencies to spend the appropriated funding to carry out the specified programs and activities, and sometimes provide further directions to the agencies.
Additionally, some provisions of law apply across all or several federal agencies, including IMLS. For instance, all executive agencies are required to comply with and implement the Freedom of Information Act. In addition, all federally funded education programs (which is considered to include libraries and museums) must comply with Title IX of the Education Amendments of 1972.
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What can I do if my library's federal funding is terminated?
Beginning in early April, IMLS began sending termination notices to numerous grantees.
ALA is responding to these politically-motivated attacks on library funding with public advocacy and litigation. In addition, to support affected grantees, ALA is offering the following tips.
ALA encourages grantees who receive a termination notice to consider the suggestions below. (Note: This is not legal advice, and ALA is not able to provide legal advice in this matter.)
- Immediately send the termination notice to your legal counsel and ask what steps you should take.
- Preserve all relevant documents relating to the grant and any communications you receive from the federal agency.
- Submit the termination notice to ALA so we can gather information about grant cancellations.
- Review the National Council of Nonprofits’ checklist: “What to do When Your Federal Grant or Contract is Terminated.”
- Ask your legal counsel about appealing the termination (see 2 C.F.R. § 200.342).
- At IMLS, grantees may request review of grant terminations, which must be submitted in writing to IMLS within 30 days of the grant termination. See the IMLS General Terms and Conditions under “Procedures for Requesting a Review of Suspension or Termination.”
- If you request review, preserve all relevant documents from the review and any communications you receive from the federal agency.
- Notify your Congressmembers and local media of the termination. Explain how the cancellation will affect your library and your community (e.g., any jobs lost or services eliminated). Ask your Congressmembers to help with your case, and ask them to protect IMLS and support continued funding for libraries.
What does this mean for grants to libraries?
Beginning in early April, IMLS began sending termination notices to numerous grantees. It is unclear how many IMLS grants remain open, and if or when IMLS intends to terminate any remaining grants.
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What can I do if my library's federal funding is terminated?
It appears that IMLS is not actively processing applications for future grant rounds.
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How can I find out what IMLS funds in my state?
IMLS funds a wide range of grants, research, and convenings to advance library programs and services. On the ALA Fund Libraries campaign page, you can download one-pagers with your state’s LSTA funding history and library facts.
In addition, the IMLS website provides information about:
- Awarded grants
- Activities undertaken by state library agencies supported by the LSTA Grants to States program
You can find information on awarded grants on the IMLS website at https://www.imls.gov/grants/awarded-grants.
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But didn’t Congress just fund IMLS?
On March 14, 2025, the Senate passed and the president signed a continuing resolution for fiscal year 2025, which provides funding for IMLS through September 2025.
Although this continuing resolution provides funding for IMLS, President Trump has instead directed the agency’s elimination all on the same day. This Executive Order usurps the intent of Congress’s decision to provide funding for IMLS, which President Trump agreed to in signing that law.
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What will happen to the IMLS staff?
Reportedly, all but 12 of the agency's staff of approximately 75 employees have been put on paid administrative leave and received notice of an agency-wide reduction in force to take place May 4, 2025.
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What does this mean for libraries?
The intent to undercut and eliminate the Institute for Museum and Library Services (IMLS) is extremely shortsighted and perilous for the millions of Americans who rely on our public, school, academic, and special libraries. Library funding draws less than 0.003% of the annual federal budget yet has enormous impact in communities nationwide. From technology classes for jobseekers to services for people with disabilities, from library delivery for older Americans to summer reading programs for families, IMLS funding makes a real, concrete difference in the lives of Americans every day. The president’s executive order puts all of those services at risk.
Some examples of library services commonly funded through IMLS grants:
- Talking Books and Braille Library services
- Inter-library loan
- Access to databases for all levels and types of education, including databases used by medical schools, K-12 schools, and homeschoolers.
- Bookmobiles
- Literacy programs
- Small-business and entrepreneurship programs
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How can the executive order be stopped or limited?
- The March 14 executive order could be stopped or limited in the following ways:
- Congress could enact a law that overrides the president’s action.
- A court can overturn provisions of the executive order, or actions taken to implement the executive order, that it finds to violate the Constitution or a federal law.
- President Trump, or a future president, could rescind or modify the executive order, or direct that it be interpreted in ways that reduce the disruption of IMLS’s activities and programs.
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What is the ALA doing in court?
- On April 7, 2025, the American Library Association and the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees (AFSCME) asked a federal judge to halt the Trump administration’s gutting of the Institute of Museum and Library Services (IMLS) – a non-partisan and independent agency dedicated to supporting and funding libraries and museums and the crucial community services they provide in every state across the country.
- On April 10, the coalition filed a motion for a preliminary injunction in a lawsuit that was initiated on behalf of ALA and AFSCME by Democracy Forward and co-counsel Gair Gallo Eberhard LLP. The motion asks the court to stop the dismantling of the IMLS as directed by a Trump executive order while the case is considered by the court.
- For updates, please sign up for our advocacy alerts. And for more details, please see our full press release here.
