UPDATE: New FAQ:
IMLS Releases “FY 2018 IMLS Budget Frequently Asked Questions”
While it’s hardly a surprise we’re nevertheless sad to report that the just released FY2018 Budget of the United submitted to Congress by President Trump eliminates nearly all funding for IMLS (Institute for Museum and Library Services (IMLS), National Endowment for the Arts (NEA), National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH), and Corporation for Public Broadcasting (CPB) with the plan to completely eliminate these organizations in the future.
The few dollars that remain in the FY18 budget (in the case of IMLS, 10% of the budget) are for closing down the agency.
Remember, this is a proposed budget, Congress makes the final decisions.
Primary Documents
Direct to All FY2018 Budget Documents (via Govinfo.gov)
The document, “Major Savings and Reforms: Budget Of The U. S. Government Fiscal Year 2018”
Info About IMLS From Page 96 of the Document.
Source: Major Savings and Reforms Budget Of The U. S. Government Fiscal Year 2018 (Page 96)
Info About NEA From Page 99 of the Document.
Source: Major Savings and Reforms Budget Of The U. S. Government Fiscal Year 2018, GPO (Page 99)
Info About NEA From Page 100 of the Document
Source: Major Savings and Reforms Budget Of The U. S. Government Fiscal Year 2018, GPO (Page 100)
Info About CPB From Page 95 of the Document
Source: Major Savings and Reforms Budget Of The U. S. Government Fiscal Year 2018, GPO (Page 95)
OMB Director
Regarding CPB, here’s how Nick Mulvaney, Director of the Office of Management and Budget (OMB), put it in a press briefing yesterday:
There’s a little money left in the budget to allow us to wind down the federal position. I think we account for 15 percent of their funding right now. So we don’t take it to zero right away, but we do anticipate to.
Responses/Comments
Library Community
Today, President Donald J. Trump released his FY 2018 budget request to Congress, which includes $23 million for administrative expenses to begin conducting a closeout of operations of the Institute of Museum and Library Services (IMLS) starting in Fiscal Year 2018. IMLS is one of several independent agencies designated for elimination in the FY 2018 budget request. The budget request expands upon the initial Administration budget request released in March, proposing the elimination of IMLS. The request released today includes no funding for IMLS grant programs.
For information about how the proposed budget and budget process may affect institutions with existing grants or IMLS operations generally, see the FY 2018 IMLS Budget Frequently Asked Questions document.
Statement From the American Library Association President Julie Todaro
“The Administration’s budget is using the wrong math when it comes to libraries.
“To those who say that the nation cannot afford federal library funding, the American Library Association, American businesses and millions of Americans say emphatically we cannot afford to be without it.
“America’s more than 120,000 public, school, academic and special libraries are visited more than 1.4 billion times a year by hundreds of millions of Americans in every corner of the nation. In 2013, 94 percent of Americans said that having a public library improves the quality of life in a community and the same percentage of parents said that libraries are important for their children.
“Over 80 major companies and trade associations from multiple sectors of the economy called libraries ‘critical national infrastructure’ in a letter to all Senators asking them to support the very agency and programs that the Administration has just proposed to effectively eliminate.
“We and those we serve will collaborate with our stakeholders, business allies and the more than one-third or more of all Members of Congress who have already pledged their support in writing to preserve critical library funding for FY 2018 through the Institute of Museum and Library Services and to save the agency itself, as well as other vital programs in other agencies that help millions of Americans.”
Comments From Digital Library Federation President Bethany Nowviskie (via DLF Discussion List)
Other Organizations
Statement from CPB on the President’s FY 2018 Budget Proposal Eliminating Funding for Public Media
Statement from PBS President and CEO Paula Kerger On Proposed Cuts to Federal Funding for Public Broadcasting
Statement from National Humanities Alliance
Reports
Trump’s Final FY18 Budget Again Tries to Zero Out CPB, NEA (via Broadcasting & Cable)
Trump’s 2018 Budget Calls For Phasing Out Public Broadcasting Funds (via Current)
Budget Calls For Phasing Out Public Broadcasting Funds (via APTN)
We will update this post with more info and resources as they become available.
About Gary Price
