Librarians, union settle with Trump administration over federal IMLS cuts
The American Library Association and American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees (AFSCME) reached a settlement agreement over the Trump administration’s attempt to eliminate the Institute of Museum and Library Services.
Through the terms of the settlement, the agency can continue awarding grants, doing research and operating programs. Previously terminated grants have been reinstated.
In addition, any layoffs IMLS had to issue under an order signed by President Donald Trump were rescinded. Employees who received them were allowed to return to work.
Sam Helmick, president of the American Library Association, told Straight Arrow News that research projects are also back on.
“I had a friend at my local university, and she happened to just see me in the grocery store…and she cried and put her arms around me and she said, our funding has returned,” Helmick said.
It is “really edifying to have the certainty that no future executive order should be seeking to dismantle a congressionally mandated institution,” they said.
Still, they added, “the damage is done, and I’m hoping it can be recouped.” There’s also the matter of the White House budget proposal for FY27, which the ALA says effectively “zeroes out” funding for IMLS.
Now, Helmick said, what they’re going back to is the “normal base of anxiety” of wondering whether people can show Congress the importance of funding libraries.
Straight Arrow News reached out to the White House and Department of Justice for comment.
The IMLS and Trump’s executive order
In March 2025, Trump signed an executive order stating that the IMLS, along with several other agencies, should be “eliminated to the maximum extent consistent with applicable law.” This was done under the now-disbanded Department of Government Efficiency.
Following this, Democracy Forward and law firm Gair Gallo Eberhard LLP filed a lawsuit on behalf of the American Library Association and AFSCME, leading to the settlement agreement.
The IMLS is the sole federal agency providing libraries and museums with grants, and it also conducts policy development and research. In FY 24 alone, it distributed $211 million in grants to libraries.
Helmick said this is done through a matching program with state libraries and library commissions. This gives the grants the ability to support the needs of the community, they said.
Iowa, where Helmick is from, has a program that provides weekly delivery of materials for public libraries and the State Library.
“If I wanted to have a book club and I needed six copies of a James Patterson title, I didn’t have to purchase them as a library,” they explained. “I could borrow them from my communities and my neighbors a town over, and that’s enabled us to have a really good return on our investment.”
But libraries can help with more than just finding books, Helmick pointed out. Libraries are also places people can find warmth during cold seasons, get trauma-informed first aid or social work resources, access Telehealth, and find jobs.
When the IMLS staffers were laid off under the executive order, libraries had to cut hours, and some of these services were diminished.
“That meant that the American public were not being served despite the fact that those federal dollars were still taken out of their paycheck every period,” Helmick said.
Some staff chose to leave the field due to the inconsistency as well, Helmick noted.
Small and rural libraries were disproportionately hit, as larger communities are better able to find resources and lean into partnerships.
Along with that, a lot of national data on literacy rates, library programming, attendance and more comes through the Institute of Museum and Library Services.
“That data alone is just too precious and valuable to have lost, and there will be a lot of catching up from this year for the staff that are returning to that space,” Helmick said.
What’s universal about library workers and boards, though, Helmick said, is that “they’re optimistic and they continue to focus on what they’re able to do.”
Ella Rae Greene, Editor In Chief
