NY Times: “Federal Cuts, Immigration Raids and a Slowing Economy Hit Rural Libraries”

From The NY Times:

In March, President Trump issued an executive order dismantling the Institute of Museum and Library Services, which has provided around $270 million a year to public and academic libraries to help pay for services such as summer reading programs, broadband internet access, lending between libraries, staff training and access to national databases.

A court fight over that order continues, with a temporary injunction keeping the agency operating. But state and local governments, already concerned over the uncertainty of the looming library cuts, are also confronting rising personnel costs, a slowing economy and a new law that would pare back Medicaid and food assistance. Because of all that, those governments may find themselves unable to pick up the slack if federal money shrinks or goes away.

Communities are already feeling the impact: Some rural libraries in Florida and Mississippi, for example, have frozen interlibrary loan programs, sharply reducing the range of materials available to residents in more remote areas. State libraries in Maine, Indiana, Connecticut and Washington have laid off staff members or warned that layoffs were coming; state librarians often provide the bulk of training and technology help for their small-town counterparts, so cuts at the state level can mean fewer or simplified services at city and county libraries.

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Facing multiple challenges, the Yakima [Washington] library district began warning residents late last year that the four cities still paying an annual flat fee to the district would have to pay more for their libraries or lose service. Public outcry made a difference in several towns, including Naches, population 1,090, where frequent library users helped persuade the district board to phase in the fee increase over three years. The Friends of the Naches Library Coalition is now talking about filing as a nonprofit to raise money for a bigger branch that could include amenities like conference rooms and even a coffee shop.

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