Rural libraries feel federal cuts

WAITSBURG — Waitsburg’s Weller Public Library is facing cuts in services and possibly staffing from the loss of federal funding. The Institute of Museum and Library Services was one of seven agencies functionally eliminated by an executive order to continue reducing federal bureaucracy signed by President Trump on March 14, 2025.

While libraries are funded mainly by city and county taxes, federal funding helps pay for workforce training and pilot programs. It helps provide essential library services, including computer and internet access, in rural libraries. This year, the Grants to States program awarded Washington $3.9 million, which the Washington State Library manages.

Rural libraries, including Weller Public Library, are especially at risk. The terminated funding means rural libraries and their patrons will have limited to no access to eBooks and audiobooks, resources for technical help, broadband access, and loss of innovative projects.

Weller Public Library received termination notices for two previouosly approved grants. One for up to $5,000 for a summer intern and a $2,000 TTRPG Innovation Grant. The newly appointed IMLS Acting Director Keith Sonderling said in the notices that the grants no longer aligned with the agency’s priorities set by President Trump’s executive order.

The Institute of Museum and Library Services has been effectively shuttered, staff was placed on administrative leave, approved grants were terminated, and new applications were halted. The White House and Department of Labor defended the IMLS decision, saying it will reduce bureaucracy and eliminate “divisive, anti-American programming” in cultural institutions.

On April 4, Washington’s Attorney General Nick Brown joined a suit with 20 states to stop the dismantling of three federal agencies, including the Institute of Museums and Library Services. The suit argues that the president cannot override Congress’s power to allocate federal funds.

On Tuesday, April 8, the Friends of the Weller Public Library offered to donate the $3,500 budgeted for the summer intern, should the federal funding not be reinstated.