Funding for the Institute of Museum and Library Services is in jeopardy due to the Trump administration’s massive cuts.  

Cutting out funding for the Institute of Museum and Library Services is among the priorities of the Trump administration’s Department of Governmental Efficiency, ostensibly in order to cut governmental spending and eliminate diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives.  

Through a federal judge’s injunction, funding that had been withheld from the U.S. library system through IMLS since March has been temporarily restored. 

That’s due to a federal lawsuit brought by the attorneys general of 21 states, including Kwame Raoul of Illinois. In response, a federal judge issued a preliminary injunction ordering the administration to restore terminated IMLS staff and grants to recipients in the states. On May 20, the Trump administration filed a status report indicating its compliance with the order.  

The American Library Association has filed its own challenge to the administration’s actions to eliminate IMLS funding. In Chicago, Illinois Library Association Executive Director Cynthia Robinson told Chronicle Media that she is cautiously optimistic federal funding will continue to provide for many of the services libraries offer patrons throughout the state. 

“We have been told that the IMLS has been receiving money, but only for the 21 states involved in the federal lawsuit, and that the (Illinois) state library is receiving money,” Robinson confirmed, adding that Illinois’ library system is better shielded from the loss of federal funding than those in other states. “We are fortunate that our state library is funded by the Secretary of State. In other states, they are laying people off because they’ve been using IMLS money to pay staff. I have colleagues in Washington state and in California who have been told they are likely to be laid off in July.” 

The money received from IMLS is used in Illinois for transit services for interlibrary loans and holds, along with “Illinois Libraries Presents” programming and grants used to provide certain services and materials. “These services are in jeopardy if federal funding is eliminated,” according to Lauren Keyes, director of the Dunlap Public Library in Peoria County, and a director on the ILA board. Keyes advises patrons of Dunlap’s library, which serves more than 47,000 customers and offers in-person or virtual educational and entertainment programs for over 18,000 people each year, to contact their U.S. elected officials and urge them to save federal funding for libraries. 

Breaking it down further, IMLS funding is distributed by the Illinois State Library through the IMLS Grants to States program, with funding for Illinois totaling $5.7 million in FY 2024 — the sixth-highest amount in the country. Monies are also allocated to the Illinois Heartland Library System and the Reaching Across Illinois Library System under the System Area and Per Capita Grant Program. This funding facilitates the delivery of books and library materials across Illinois through interlibrary loan services. 

ALA President Cindy Hohl said the temporary injunction ordering the restoration of IMLS funding is particularly important to small, rural and tribal communities, where federal funding is crucial to their survival. She cautioned that the Trump administration also has filed an appeal of the injunction and requested a stay of the decision. As of June 13, 2025, the stay had not been granted. 

“These developments are critical first steps in our shared goal to renew and amplify the need for IMLS after the administration’s abrupt and illegal actions eliminated it,” she said. “Even as we celebrate this progress, we must remember that these wins are temporary and only as good as the extent to which they are upheld throughout the appeals process until the judge issues a ruling on the case based on its merits.” 

ILA’s Robinson added that Illinois libraries are primarily supported by property taxes, ensuring libraries remain locally funded even when federal funds are withheld. In general, local and county taxes pay for the lion’s share of Illinois library funding, covering expenses such as staff salaries, books, office supplies and utilities. 

In anticipation of a potential reversal of the federal injunction restoring IMLS funding to libraries, an Illinois State Library committee, of which Robinson is a non-voting member, is working to identify funding priorities in the event some services will need to be cut. “Delivery would be very high on our list of priorities,” she said. “After that it would be the library systems, of which there are three in Illinois. One is Chicago Public, and then there is RAILS in the northern part of the state and the Heartland Library System in southern Illinois.” 

Directors University, a yearly workshop for new and experienced Illinois library directors that offers networking opportunities, updates on library funding opportunities, laws and available budgeting tools, has been supported through IMLS money for the past ten years. As a priority of the ILA, the workshop will continue to be offered to library directors for as long as possible, according to Robinson, who has been an employee of the ILA for the past 25 years and its executive director since 2022.

Legislation will protect libraries, employees  

On April 21, legislation advanced in both chambers of the Illinois General Assembly that would allow the Secretary of State’s Office to issue funding to increase security measures at public, school and academic libraries.  

“As you’re well aware, our libraries and library workers have unfortunately faced an increased onslaught of threats of violence and acts of intimidation. The personal safety and welfare of many of you has been placed at risk for simply doing your jobs,” said Illinois Secretary of State and State Librarian Alexi Giannoulias, in a letter to the ILA. “While current state law contains penalties for threats targeting schools, public officials and human services providers, it does not include the same protections for all libraries and all librarians.” 

Under Illinois House Bill 2747 and Senate Bill 1550, grant applicants would have the ability to use grant funds to install things like security cameras, silent alarms or security check points, for which funding is not always available and for which these grants have never been authorized to support, according to Giannoulias.