01-04-2025
Trump's next targets: Museums and libraries, including MFAH and Houston Zoo
Museums and libraries in Texas could lose federal support under a Trump administration plan to shut down the agency that funds them.
Why it matters: The cultural institutions rely on federal money to meet their mission.
Catch up quick: In a March 14 executive order, President Trump named the Institute of Museum and Library Services (IMLS) as one of seven agencies that should be "eliminated to the maximum extent consistent with applicable law."
Other agencies included in the order are the Minority Business Development Agency and the U.S. Interagency Council on Homelessness.
The latest: The institute on Monday put its entire staff on administrative leave for 90 days after a meeting with DOGE staff, NPR reported.
Follow the money: The IMLS' largest program, called Grants to States, disburses roughly $160 million annually to state library agencies, including $12.5 million in fiscal year 2024 to the Texas State Library and Archives Commission (TSLAC). The agency supports public and school libraries and provides reading services for people with disabilities.
The federal grant makes up a third of the state agency's total budget.
Per a grant request from the state agency reviewed by Axios, the 2024 money was earmarked to improve access for Texans to literacy and workforce readiness, as well as to help train librarians.
Asked about the IMLS funding, TSLAC officials directed Axios to a fact sheet detailing uses of the money, showing the funds fully support the state's e-book program for small community libraries and the interlibrary loan (ILL) system.
Zoom in: The Houston Zoo was the recipient in 2020 of a $250,000 grant to implement an interpretive plan for the Galápagos Islands exhibit that opened in 2023.
What they're saying: "This agency provides essential funding and guidance for the vast collections of museums, including zoos, across America," Houston Zoo President Lee Ehmke wrote in a letter to federal lawmakers, shared with Axios.
"Beyond education, museums are economic engines, providing jobs, driving tourism, and serving as community cornerstones. Museums cannot do this vital work without the support they receive from agencies like IMLS."
Ehmke also pointed to a 2013 IMLS grant of $459,147 that supported research on Elephant Endotheliotropic Herpesvirus (EEHV), helping move vaccine development forward.
Other Houston institutions that have recently received grants from the IMLS include:
The African American History Research Center at Houston Public Library ($100,000 in 2024)
The Orange Show ($500,000 in 2022)
The Museum of Fine Arts, Houston (about $250,000 in 2021)
Friction point: IMLS was established by Congress in 1996 and reauthorized in 2018 by Trump. The agency's governing board issued a letter that explained that IMLS' programs "cannot be paused, reduced, or eliminated without violating Congressional intent and federal statute."
Meanwhile, public library advocates have launched a petition to oppose the shuttering of the agency and its services.
Between the lines: The elimination of the IMLS could lead to "devastation for museums, libraries and archives everywhere," Gabriel Solis, executive director for the Texas After Violence Project, tells Axios.
