InterLibrary Loan is largely funded and made possible through the Institute of Museum and Library Services (IMLS) which is a federally funded program.
Trump is targeting IMLS with elimination in his latest proposed budget. We need your help to keep services like Interlibrary Loan in our American Libraries.
InterLibrary Loan services are sometimes included in local library budget cuts—the perception being that the service is not essential—but as Heather Robinson, chief executive of the St. Thomas Public Library in St. Thomas, Ontario said when their service was cut, the loss of InterLibrary Loan affects rural communities the most. The same is true in America—where swaths of people need libraries for internet access, let alone the wealth of knowledge afforded by a book sharing service. InterLibrary Loan is also essential for the democratization of research: you would be hard-pressed to find an acknowledgments page in a book of academic scholarship that doesn’t include the phrase “interlibrary loan.”
Even in an age when we can buy most any book with a single click, the InterLibrary Loan system remains a beautiful creation—and one that is often free. It is also a pleasant metaphor: we are loaned knowledge from afar, but we have to take care of it. Just remember not to tear that white band. (LitHub)
President Trump’s FY2021 Budget is targeting the only federal library programs for complete elimination. Again.
This is the fourth year that our president has called for the total shutdown of the Institute of Museum and Library Services. It is the fourth year that reasonable and right-minded library advocates have to rally against his proposed cuts.
Join us and thousands of other Americans and tell Congress “NO” to this bad budget proposal. Send your message today to ensure that the House and Senate do their jobs and fund libraries, museums, and archives.
IMLS is the primary source of federal support for the nation’s 123,000 libraries and 35,000 museums. IMLS provides grants to libraries in need to replace technology and infrastructure. Many rural and urban communities depend on these grants to continue operations and provide essential community services. In small towns and big cities, museums are vital to sharing the arts, extending our cultural memory, and connecting us with people we’d never otherwise have met. IMLS is a primary source of federal grant funding to extend state and local resources in order to educate students, preserve and digitize collections, and connect families with their communities.
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Even after four rounds of proposed cuts, we still don’t understand why the president would target the Institute of Museum and Library Services for defunding. Especially since the president himself signed the renewal of the Museum and Libary Services Act into law just last year.
If this administration is looking for ways to grow the American economy, stabilize and strengthen our communities, and ensure that every child can succeed in life, federal support of libraries, museums, and archives should be fully funded not on the chopping block.