To: President Donald Trump, Vice President JD Vance, Republicans, House Representatives
Tell Trump and the GOP: Do NOT Defund our Libraries and Museums
With another executive order added to the list by the Trump administration, this time libraries and museums could be on the chopping block. Libraries and museums receive necessary funding every year to provide Americans with internet and computer access, telehealth and work spaces, small business support, and a variety of other programs and services.
Add your name to the petition to tell the Trump administration and Republicans that funding to libraries and museums must remain in place in order for them to continue to provide these services to Americans.
Add your name to the petition to tell the Trump administration and Republicans that funding to libraries and museums must remain in place in order for them to continue to provide these services to Americans.
Why is this important?
An executive order issued by the Trump administration on Friday night, March 14, calls for the elimination of the Institute of Museum and Library Services, the nation’s only federal agency for America’s libraries. The following statement was made by the American Library Association:
Americans have loved and relied on public, school and academic libraries for generations. By eliminating the only federal agency dedicated to funding library services, the Trump administration’s executive order is cutting off at the knees the most beloved and trusted of American institutions and the staff and services they offer:
- Early literacy development and grade-level reading programs
- Summer reading programs for kids
- High-speed internet access
- Employment assistance for job seekers
- Braille and talking books for people with visual impairments
- Homework and research resources for students and faculty
- Veterans’ telehealth spaces equipped with technology and staff support
- STEM programs, simulation equipment and training for workforce development
- Small business support for budding entrepreneurs
To dismiss some 75 committed workers and mission of an agency that advances opportunity and learning is to dismiss the aspirations and everyday needs of millions of Americans. And those who will feel that loss most keenly live in rural communities.
As seedbeds of literacy and innovation, our nation’s 125,000 public, school, academic and special libraries deserve more, not less support. Libraries translate 0.003% of the federal budget into programs and services used by more than 1.2 billion people every year.