March 17, 2025

On March 14, 2025, President Trump issued an Executive Order directing that “to the maximum extent consistent with applicable law,” all non-statutory components and functions of the Institute of Museum and Library Services (IMLS) be eliminated, and that those agency functions mandated by law be reduced to a minimum.

IMLS was created by Congress to assure that federal resources would be available to improve and support the nation’s public libraries, drawing on decades of legislation acknowledging the need for all citizens to have access to free public libraries to improve their lives and their ability to fully participate in our society, our economy, and the political process.

America’s libraries are the primary means of connecting people to information and ideas, providing opportunities for lifelong learning, cultural enrichment, and civic engagement. They serve as anchor institutions for their communities, providing access to technology, government information, and career and educational resources. People who visit and use the resources provided by libraries in cities, rural areas, and tribal lands have all benefited from state grants, programs, or initiatives funded or supported by the Institute of Museum and Library Services. Eliminating or reducing IMLS will deny students, families, entrepreneurs, small businesses, and communities' access to an essential public service.

Libraries are our tangible expression of the First Amendment and the promise that all people enjoy the freedom to read and believe as they choose. The Freedom to Read Foundation believes that well-funded and well-supported libraries are the foundation for a functioning, inclusive democracy, and are necessary for the flourishing of individuals and our nation as a whole.

We call on the current administration to withdraw the Executive Order reducing or essentially eliminating IMLS, and urge Congress to maintain and fully fund all the programs and initiatives currently provided by the Institute of Museum and Library Services to improve and expand people’s access to libraries.

We ask everyone who believes in libraries and the freedom to read to act by contacting your Congressional representatives and demanding that they maintain and fully fund IMLS, so that it can continue to support the nation’s school, public, and academic libraries. This link will take you there now.

From its founding in 1969, the Freedom to Read Foundation and its members, staff, and supporters have fought to protect and defend the First Amendment, with a particular mission to foster libraries as institutions where every individual's First Amendment freedoms are fulfilled and to support the right of libraries to include in their collections and make available any work which they may legally acquire. We do this with an unwavering belief that the freedom to read is essential for assuring every person’s liberty, and that libraries truly are an essential foundation of democracy.

We invite you to join FTRF and its members in our fight to defend and preserve America’s libraries, the freedom to read, and the agencies and institutions that assure that all persons have access to a great library.

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