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“… The annual budget of IMLS amounts to less than $1 per person in the US. Overall, the agency awarded over $269.5 million to library and museum systems last year, according to its grants database. Much of that money is paid out as reimbursements over time, the current IMLS employee says, but now there is no one around to cut checks for funds that have already been allocated.
“The status of previously awarded grants is unclear. Without staff to administer the programs, it is likely that most grants will be terminated,” the American Federation of Government Employee Local 3403 union said in a statement.
About 65 percent of the funding had been allocated to different states, with each one scheduled to receive a minimum of roughly $1.2 million.
Recipients can use the money for statewide initiatives or pass it on to local museum and library institutions for expenses such as staff training and back-office software. California and Texas have received the highest allocated funding, at about $12.5 million and $15.7 million, respectively, according to IMLS data. Individual libraries and museums also receive grants directly from IMLS for specific projects.
An art museum in Idaho expected to put $10,350 toward supporting student field trips, according to the IMLS grant database. A North Carolina museum was allotted $23,500 for weaving and fiber art workshops for seniors. And an indigenous community in California expected to put $10,000 toward purchasing books and electronic resources.
In past years, other Native American tribes have received IMLS grants to purchase access to apps such as Hoopla and Libby, which provide free ebooks and audiobooks to library patrons.
Some funding from the IMLS also goes to academic projects, such as using virtual reality to preserve Native American cultural archives or studying how AI chatbots could improve access to university research. …”
