Libraries are more than just books — they have meeting rooms, access to subscription services and help build community, said the leader of the Lake County Public Library.

And now, she said it feels like the institutions are under attack.

“We have so much more,” said Executive Director Carol Daumer Gutjahr. “Libraries make a difference in people’s lives, and by seeing the (Institute of Museum and Library Services) cuts along with the Department of Education, those are areas that are really important to the growth of our community and making sure that we advance and have the resources people need to do their jobs.”

A March 14 executive order from President Donald Trump called to reduce “the scope of federal bureaucracy,” eliminating various government entities, including the Institute of Museum and Library Services.

IMLS provides grants and helps give museums and libraries access to nationwide information, ideas and stories, according to its website.

On March 20, Deputy Secretary of Labor Keith Sonderling was sworn in as acting director of IMLS, according to its website.

“I am committed to steering this organization in lockstep with this administration to enhance efficiency and foster innovation,” Sonderling said in a statement. “We will revitalize IMLS and restore focus on patriotism, ensuring we preserve our country’s core values, promote American exceptionalism and cultivate love of country in future generations.”

NPR reported on March 31 that IMLS staff were notified by email about being placed on leave for up to 90 days, according to a statement from AFGE Local 3403. Employees had to turn in government property, and email accounts were disabled, according to NPR.

Daumer Gutjahr believes the speed of action has been jarring.

“I feel that it’s happened so quickly, and (officials) have not necessarily taken into consideration the drastic effect it’s going to have on the everyday citizen,” Daumer Gutjahr said. “No matter what their political views might be, it’s going to touch somebody in every area.”

Julie Wendorf, director of the Crown Point Community Library and president of the Indiana Library Federation, said IMLS helps fund the Indiana State Library, which received about $500,000 in the last round of grants.

IMLS funding supports multiple state resources, including the Indiana Digital Library, which provides e-books for libraries statewide. Other resources affected include INSPIRE, Evergreen Indiana and Info Express.

IMLS funding also helps buy books and materials for the blind, visually impaired and people with print disabilities, Indiana history digitization, and the office of professional development, according to the ILF.

“The efficiencies and the ability to group purchase and group provide services is already a great value to Indiana library patrons,” Wendorf said. “So, for each library (statewide) to have to replace those expenses would be an expense.”

The Lake County library doesn’t have grants from IMLS, Daumer Gutjahr said, but the state library would submit grant requests and disperse money to institutions statewide. For instance, the Lake County library was using IMLS money to subsidize courier services for its interlibrary loan system, which helps the organization request materials from other Indiana libraries.

The courier service travels five days a week to move materials, but the cost has gone up and without IMLS money, the library will have to move the service to twice a week.

To prepare for cuts that might come from state or federal government, Daumer Gutjahr tasked department heads to pinpoint budget areas that can be decreased or cut if needed.

“This is a proactive measure for us to look at everything,” Daumer Gutjahr said, “but Lake County operates on a very lean budget. We’ve always been proud to do so with the minimum staff we need to operate our buildings, while also maintaining safety for staff and patrons.”

Porter County Public Library System Director Jesse Butz said when he learned about the federal cuts to the IMLS, he was disappointed in the decision.

“These are pretty essential services that help a lot and are a fairly low amount, I believe, of the overall federal budget. I would hope that we could find a way to make this a little less impactful on the community. These are high impact, low dollar interactions that really do a lot of good,” Butz said.

Porter County won’t be “devastated” by the federal cuts as compared to smaller, rural libraries, Butz said. Porter County libraries will feel the impact because the IMLS offers libraries to share information, services and resources.

“By not being able to do those three things, it puts a greater burden on every single library. The smaller the library, the less likely they are to absorb it,” Butz said.

Wendorf and Daumer Gutjahr both agreed that smaller, rural libraries will struggle more because of the IMLS cuts. When rural libraries struggle, patron services will have to be reduced, Wendorf said.

“(Rural libraries) don’t often have other budget dollars to pay for these services that might get passed down to the local level,” Wendorf said.

As a larger library system, Porter County has a large materials budget, which would allow officials to purchase books if statewide delivery service ends, Butz said.

But, even then, Butz said Porter County library patrons would still have a smaller access to books because the state-wide system offers them access to millions of books, which Porter County couldn’t afford to buy.

“It would cost sacrifices for us. We would potentially lose the ability to have lots of materials, lose the ability to have access to lots of databases and resources for our community. But, because we are so fiscally responsible here as an organization, and we’re committed to core library services, we will continue,” Butz said.

Federal cuts aren’t the only changes that might impact libraries statewide, Wendorf said. In the Indiana legislature, Senate Bill 283 — authored by Sen. Gary Byrne, R-Byrnesville — would remove the ability of appointed library boards to establish tax levies.

The bill died in committee, but Wendorf said it was concerning to have come up.

Indiana’s property tax bill, Senate Bill 1 will have a large effect on libraries if passed, Wendorf said. The fiscal impact of the bill, if passed, would cut $1.4 billion across the state between 2025 and 2026, including $67 million from libraries, according to Post-Tribune archives.

The bill originally included Gov. Mike Braun’s property tax plan, which would have cut $4.1 billion statewide between 2026 and 2028, including $254 million from libraries.

Senate Bill 1 is currently in the Indiana House Ways and Means committee.

“Most public libraries, their majority funding comes from their property tax,” Wendorf said. “So lessening that funding is going to be a challenge for libraries as they move forward.”

Wendorf added that Braun’s budget also has a 30% agency cut for the Indiana State Library. That cut, on top of lack of funding from IMLS, will make it more difficult for the state library to continue to provide resources.

Larger libraries will have to deal with the potential property tax changes and increased costs of services, Wendorf said.

“Funding challenges are really three-pronged,” Wendorf said. “It’s at the local level with our property tax. It’s at the state library because of their budget being cut, and it’s also trickling down from the federal cut to the state library, which also directly impacts services at public libraries.”

As president of the ILF, Wendorf said she’s angry and sad to see how changes will put libraries at a disadvantage.

“When they make these cuts, they don’t understand the services that we’re providing, whether it be to entrepreneurs trying to find information to start their own business, or people working from home, or those young families that use our services to provide childhood literacy activities,” Wendorf said. “There’s just so many ways that the library is filling in the gaps and making sure that our communities thrive.”

mwilkins@chicagotribune.com

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