An executive order signed last week by President Donald Trump attempting to dismantle the agency responsible for providing federal funding to libraries across the country, has left libraries in the Twin Counties, and the wider Hudson Valley, unsure of their futures.

The executive order, signed by Trump on March 14, calls for the elimination of seven federal agencies, including the Institute of Museum and Library Services. The agency provides millions of dollars in grant funding for libraries across the country, and also provides funding for state library agencies to then disburse to individual libraries.

Through the executive order, the listed agencies will be required to “reduce the performance of their statutory functions and associated personnel to the minimum presence and function required by law,” and submit a report to the director of the federal Office of Management and Budget confirming the agencies will comply with the order, and explain if any of the functions of their agency are required by law.

In New York state, the Institute of Museum and Library Services provided $19.9 million to the New York State Library, according to the New York Library Association. The state library distributes the funding to library systems and individual libraries throughout the state.

“That’s a significant amount of money,” New York Library Association Executive Director AnnaLee Dragon said Tuesday. “It’s going to be very serious if this IMLS [Institute of Museum and Library Services] funding goes away.”

The Institute of Museum and Library Services amounts to 0.003% of the federal budget, according to the New York Library Association.

“You’re not balancing the budget with that,” Dragon said.

The state library system is part of the state Department of Education, and provides support to the 7,000 individual libraries and 72 library systems in the state.

The agency also provides administrative support for libraries through the creation of annual reports that are sent to the federal government, as well as through construction grants to make libraries safer and more accessible.

“There’s a lot of bits and pieces the state library system supports,” she said.

For the Mid-Hudson Library System, which supports 66 individual public libraries, including several in both Columbia and Greene counties, including the Hudson Area Library and Catskill Public Library, the attempt to dismantle the Institute of Museums and Library Services means the system could lose access to 80% of its funding.

“If 80% of our funding suddenly disappears, that’s a huge problem,” Mid-Hudson Library System Executive Director Rebekkah Smith Aldrich said. “We’re very concerned, and being as conservative as possible, but 80% of our funding, my God. We won’t be able to survive without that.”

The Mid-Hudson Library System has reserve funds set aside, due to the funding schedule for the organization sometimes causing delays.

“I’ve been saving some money to keep us stable if funds are delayed longer than usual,” Smith Aldrich said.

However, Smith Aldrich estimates the library system would begin feeling the impact of a loss in funds after about one year.

“It’s hard for me to predict what would happen at that point,” she said. “But some tough decisions would have to be made.”

During Trump’s first administration he attempted to have the Institute of Museum and Library Services defunded, but it was always rolled back and unsupported, Smith Aldrich said.

“We [libraries] came out stronger in the end with people voting their values, and listening to their constituents,” she said.

Smith Aldrich was not surprised by the executive order, but said that the effort to defund libraries feels different compared to the previous attempts during the first Trump administration due to the increased partisan divide.

She added the services provided by libraries are needed due to the increase in cuts at other federal agencies, such as Social Security, has added strain to libraries throughout the Hudson Valley.

“It puts more pressure on libraries, right at the time when funding is being cut for libraries,” Smith Aldrich said.

The potential dismantling of the federal library agency, and its impacts on the Mid-Hudson Library System, could have a chain reaction on local libraries in Columbia and Greene counties.

“None of the 11 Columbia County libraries and the 66 libraries in the Mid-Hudson Library System could do a fraction of what we currently do without MHLS [Mid-Hudson Library System] support,” Columbia County Libraries Association chairperson and Roeliff Jansen Community Library Director Tamara Gaskell said in an email. “From technology support, the shared catalog, delivery services, staff professional development and training, board development and training, advocacy work, and so much more. Smaller, rural libraries, such as those in Columbia County, which are perpetually underfunded, are likely to be particularly hurt by any funding cuts or delays.”

The Institute of Museum and Library Services also provides grants directly to libraries, such as the Access for Small and Rural Libraries grant, which is distributed by the American Library Association.

In Athens, the D.R. Evarts Library was set to receive a $10,000 Accessibility for Small and Rural Libraries grant from the Institute of Museum and Library Services. The money would have been used for railings on a newly installed wheelchair ramp and for an automated electric door.

Now, that funding is in limbo and there is no current plan for recourse, D.R. Evarts Library Board of Trustees President Kathy Jackson said. The library was awarded the grant a week and a half ago.

“We have shaken every tree,” she said. “I have worked really hard on this since 2017. We’ve gotten state grants, and we went out and got everything for all the contracts. We were scrambling and trying to beg for that money.”

Jackson added sweeping funding cuts harm no one but small libraries, and New York is unique because local libraries receive more state funding than other states.

“Smaller libraries are the ones that really get hurt, libraries with not a lot of startup money get hurt,” Jackson said. “Now, there is a disparity between people in other states and people here who have more grant opportunities. The federal government is an equalizer, its not like ‘oh where were you born, sorry about that.’”

Jackson thinks with the funding cuts, libraries in smaller states will be out of luck when it comes to funding.

The Heermance Memorial Library in Coxsackie was also set to receive an $11,477 reimbursement grant from the state’s Division of Library Development, but the funding would have been passed down by the Institute for Museum and Library Services.

The money would be used for construction of a handicapped-accessible door and for roof repairs and the grant would have reimbursed 50% of the project’s costs.

The roof repairs have already been completed, but the accessible door has not yet been installed.

“We are now in jeopardy of not getting this,” Heermance Memorial Library Director Catherine Benson said. “Politics is local and it does affect us. This is just another way of shutting down free speech and we need to stand up and support our libraries and our staff.”

Benson said libraries and museums are cultural institutions that need increased protection.

“I understand that IMLS [Institute of Museum and Library Services] is planning on staying the course and they were not expecting this,” Benson said.

“We are hoping this can be reversed.

Even on a local level, we need to reach out to our New York representatives for them to advocate on our behalf.

We need the state’s budget to support libraries also.”

The New York Library Association launched a call to action for individuals to reach out to their elected officials to convince them to speak out in support of the Institute of Library and Museum and Library Services.

Dragon said the organization has received over 3,000 responses to its call to action.

“Our campaigns are usually pretty active, but that’s a lot more than usual,” she said.

Dragon added that the move to get rid of the Institute of Museum and Library Services is part of a bigger trend to limit access to education in the county, “That’s absolutely vital in a democracy,” she said. “We used to be a nonpartisan issue. Everyone loved libraries. Now, it’s become more politicized.”

Things will change drastically if the Institute of Museum and Library Services is eliminated, due to libraries and library systems being unable to offer the same amount of materials and services, and a potential reduction in staff for the libraries, Dragon said.

“Libraries are very good at making do, but there is a limit to that,” she said.