Wisconsin libraries brace for steep drop in services under federal funding cuts

Yahoo

21-04-2025

Madison Public Library Director Tana Elias said advocacy on behalf of libraries by Wisconsin residents and other stakeholders is essential right now. The Madison Public Library is in the process of collecting physical notes from patrons to be mailed to lawmakers. (Photo courtesy of Madison Public Library)
Threatened federal funding cuts are causing uncertainty for the future of Wisconsin libraries and the programs they provide to the public, especially for those serving rural areas — and libraries are pushing Wisconsinites to talk to their lawmakers.
President Donald Trump signed an executive order in March to downsize and begin the process of eliminating the Institute of Museum and Library Services (IMLS), an agency responsible for providing funding to states, including over $266.7 million last year. In 2024, Wisconsin received $3.23 million from the federal Library Services and Technology Act (LSTA) Grants to States program, which is the largest source of federal funding support for library services in the country.
Northern Waters Library Services Director Katherine Elchert called IMLS the 'backbone' of American libraries. While the cuts could affect all libraries, Elchert said the cut would be a 'direct blow' to rural libraries, including those in her system.
Elchert's system is one of 15 public library systems across Wisconsin. It's made up of 27 libraries in the northern part of Wisconsin and is one of the smaller population size library systems, but the largest geographical systems. It is expected to get $64,064 in federal funding — or 8% of its total funding — from the federal government in 2025, according to DPI.
'Most [of my libraries] are quite small and the loss of this funding will impact every single library in my system….' Elchert said, adding that patrons might not immediately recognize the impact of cuts. 'It's not like the institute is providing money so your libraries can buy books. It's more providing large, big picture collaborations,' she said.
Some of those collaborative programs that could be affected include interlibrary loans, a mechanism for Wisconsin libraries to share information, books and resources across the state, WISCAT, the state's resource sharing platform, and Badgerlink, an online library that gives people access to online databases and educational resources.
Ben Miller, library services director for the Wisconsin Department of Public Instruction, said his team is made up of about 20 people, 16 of them funded through federal dollars. They are responsible for providing support to local libraries, including supporting collaborative programs and ensuring they work. Miller said that Wisconsin has had more than 15 million materials moved between libraries each year with the Interlibrary Loan programs and WISCAT.
'If we lost federal funding, we would be down to a skeleton of a skeleton crew of three folks,' Miller said.
Badgerlink is funded with state dollars, Miller said, but the staff at DPI is responsible for negotiating contracts and ensuring there is access to Wisconsin residents.
'Our team of people make that happen, and without this federal funding, that state money would pay for content that no one can access,' Miller said.
The agency has also worked to make WISCAT more accessible.
'We pay for the platform, we staff it… we manage it, and we have folks that help with those referrals,' Miller said. 'It allows us to cast requests outside of the state even, so you could get a book from Florida into Wisconsin if that is what you need.'
The DPI also distributes federal funds in the form of grants that allow libraries to pilot programs that could become part of regular services in the future.
A recent example, Miller said, is the JobPod Initiative in Brown County, which has helped provide resources including digital literacy training and technology skills to Wisconsinites seeking a job through their public libraries.
Another example of a successful program is the Wisconsin Public Library Consortium, widely known as Libby, which provides people across the state with access to e-books and audiobooks.
'We provided money, found out people loved it, slowly stepped ourselves off, and then the library systems just went nuts and started buying books and things and now we have, like, the second most checkouts in the nation in Wisconsin,' Miller said. 'We were able to stand that up, using this federal money to test the concept, and say, like, 'Hey, this thing, this works. Let's do it,' and then they can incorporate it into their budgets.'
Miller said that his team is looking at the potential scenarios and working to provide service until they find out they aren't funded.
The last time the agency got communication from the IMLS, Miller said, was after the executive order, but before the appointment of Deputy Secretary of Labor Keith E. Sonderling to serve as acting director of IMLS on March 20.
In that communication, Miller said, the federal government notified the agency that it should expect payment on April 22. Tuesday, he said, will be the next milestone. Some states, including California and Washington state, have already received notification that their Grants to States funding has been pulled.
Wisconsin's library agency hasn't had any communication with the federal government lately, though it has been monitoring for anything new. Miller said the program officer assigned to Wisconsin was part of the staff put on administrative leave in March.
Typically, Miller said, he would be preparing to finalize the budget and preparing to put out grant applications, but he said his agency will be proceeding with caution, even if the state does get the funding on Tuesday.
'We're holding back until we have a better picture of the future… We have questions about how this will look,' Miller said. 'All of this funding is contingent on the Museum and Library Services Act of 2018, which comes up for renewal this October, and so even if we get this money next week, we're going to be really gun shy about putting that out until we know the future of IMLS as an institution and Grants to States moving forward.'
Miller said that the agency is also waiting to see what comes from a multi-state lawsuit launched by 20 states, including Wisconsin, challenging the Trump administration's cuts to the IMLS and arguing that it violates the Constitution and the Administrative Procedure Act.
Elchert said the programs funded with federal money and the work of the state supporting those programs are important for broadening the collections available to libraries 'particularly in those rural areas that don't have the space or the budget to have those large collections that, say, Madison does.'
Elchert noted that South Dakota recently announced it is suspending its interlibrary loan service in light of the federal cuts.
'My library system could not provide all of these resources. It'd be — I don't even know how much it would cost to try and it just wouldn't happen to be frank,' Elchert said. 'So everybody is losing access to all of these larger resources that connect Wisconsin to the larger world.'
Elchert noted that the federal cuts are also affecting tribal libraries, which had their federal funds cut a couple of weeks ago. There are two, the Lac Courte Oreilles Ojibwe University Community Library and the Ben Guthrie Lac Du Flambeau Public Library, in her system.
The cuts would hit Wisconsin's urban libraries as well.
'Ironically, this [executive order] is supposed to eliminate government inefficiency, but this is an incredibly efficient system to offer these services statewide and have them run at the state level with federal funds or any funds for that matter,' said Tana Elias, director of the Madison Public Library.
Elias said that if the funding isn't awarded there will likely be a 'scramble' in July to figure out what programs could be stopped initially and over time.
'It may be that we have to go back to the vendor and renegotiate a contract or renegotiate a reduction in service that we can afford in the meantime, while we wait for all of this to play out,' Elias said. 'It's a lot of uncertainty.'
According to a joint statement from Madison Public Library and Madison Children's Museum, IMLS has awarded an average of 18 grants per year to Wisconsin museums, libraries and other institutions over the last 15 years — totaling nearly $70 million dollars over that span.
The Madison library was also notified that one of its recent grants that helped support the Observation Deck, a program that was being used to measure and illustrate the impact of library programming and support librarians in improving it, was canceled. She said the library had spent about half of the $240,000 awarded before it was canceled.
'It's a reduction,' Elias said. 'But we have a plan to continue and wrap up that project with the funding that we have now.' That plan includes not moving forward with a second grant request and paying for service directly so the platform can continue to be used. 'We won't be able to expand it and offer it for other public libraries to use,' she said.
Elias added that she was concerned that the cuts could limit professional opportunities for library staff. Currently, she said many of those opportunities become available through DPI at little to no cost. She said professional training and ensuring staff have support will be even more important if public services shrink in other areas.
'Library funding is being targeted. Humanities funding is being targeted. Arts funding is coming. We all know that education funding is being targeted as more of those funds slip away from us… as all of those safety nets shrink and fray, people will be coming to libraries more and more,' Elias said. 'I think it's even more important that we continue to have strong funding for libraries, because they're kind of a safety net for a lot of people.'
Elias said advocacy on behalf of libraries by Wisconsin residents and other stakeholders is essential right now. The Madison Public Library is in the process of collecting physical notes from patrons to be mailed to lawmakers.
The Wisconsin Public Library Consortium, which includes all of the public library systems in the state, has put together a webpage to inform residents about and encourage them to lobby their lawmakers for funding.
'It does make a difference. Legislators do listen to their constituents, and I think because we are working on a statewide campaign across the whole state, we'll hit both those Republican and Democratic legislators… I think having bipartisan support is really important,' Elias said.
Elchert of the Northern Waters system said that librarians are 'scrappy' and everyone is working to help the community.
'It's important that patrons know that their library services will be impacted if these cuts go through,' Elchert said. 'It's not a matter of will it be felt, but how badly will it be felt.'
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