The Institute of Museum and Library Services is another victim of the Trump administration’s executive order cuts on March 15.
Kristin O’Lear is the executive director of the Kodiak History Museum. She said the Institute of Museum and Library Services is a huge source of income for nonprofits like KHM to pursue big projects or train future staff.
“IMLS has a broad range of grant opportunities that provide funding for different things,” she said. “And one of the ones that we have benefitted from is Inspire!, which is grants for small museums.”
Those kinds of grants help pay for things like exhibit supplies and displays. Funds from the service recently paid for the creation of a digital archive of its collections. But now, it’s unclear if funds for those kinds of projects will be available after this week.
The White House ordered IMLS to “be eliminated to the maximum extent consistent with applicable law.” But Congress established the institute, which means some of its services will remain active. No one seems to be sure what that will look like.
“This is the only federal agency dedicated to providing support and funding for museums and libraries across the country,” Dixie Clough, the director of Museums Alaska, said.
The nonprofit is aimed at strengthening museums’ efforts across the state. Clough said it’s surprising IMLS was targeted, given how small its budget is.
“IMLS actually has a very tiny budget – it’s about 0.0046% of the overall federal budget,” she said. “That’s a little under $300 million and the majority of that money goes into grants.”
She said the service has given Alaska museums nearly $40 million since it was established in 1996.
Clough said cutting off that kind of help could lead to a financial hit right before summer tourism season. Some IMLS grants are delivered as reimbursements.
“If the agency is dismantled by the end of the week, who’s going to pay them back for the funding that they’ve already spent on programs that they were promised funding for?” Clough said. “And that’s really concerning because museums don't have a lot of funding in the first place.”
She said grants from private charitable foundations and programs will likely become more competitive.
Amy Steffian, the Alutiiq Museum’s chief curator, said she can’t rely on those.
“For the smaller organizations, the rural organizations, the tribal organizations – museums and libraries – we can’t compete,” she said.
Some small organizations can’t even apply because they don’t meet eligibility requirements, such as being open a certain number of hours per year.
The Alutiiq Museum also received a large grant from IMLS to revamp the Koniag Cultural Library late last year.
Small libraries across the state are going to be much more vulnerable.
Laurie Madsen is the director of the Kodiak Public Library. While most of its funds come from the City of Kodiak, IMLS supports projects like the library’s outdoor facilities and professional development.
“Public libraries meet once a year – the 20 largest libraries in the state – and the money from the feds through the state library helps pay for that meeting,” Madsen said. “That’s very important, keeps us up to date on what’s going on.”
It’s just another huge blow to public libraries after state lawmakers and the governor slashed funding last year. She said once again, small libraries are the most vulnerable.
“It’ll also put more pressure on municipal and borough governments,” Madsen said. “The places that are not in organized boroughs, I don’t know – I can’t imagine. I mean, there’s places all around Iliamna and out the chain, small little libraries that are kept open by volunteers.”
Kristin O’Lear, with the Kodiak History Museum, said cuts on entities like museums and libraries are concerning.
“I think when you attack institutions in this way that help with education – that are the bearers of history – I think that this says a lot about what you’re hoping to maybe erase or cut or undermine,” she said.
IMLS is just one victim in that wave of executive order cuts, which included the Federal Mediation and Conciliation Service, the U.S. Interagency Council on Homelessness, The U.S. Agency for Global Media, the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars in the Smithsonian Institution, the Community Development Financial Institutions Fund, and the Minority Business Development Agency.
Several other institutions important to Alaska that have faced cuts include the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, its National Weather Service, and the U.S. Forest Service.
Some services have had court cases to reverse those executive orders, however others are still pending.
Editor's Note: As a disclaimer, Kristin O'Lear serves on KMXT's Board of Directors, which does not oversee news coverage.