Latest news with #KeithSonderling
Yahoo
14-04-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Hanford Mills is hit by federal cost-cutting
Federal budget freezes have hit a local museum. According to a news release from Hanford Mills Museum, museum officials learned late Wednesday, April 9, from the Institute of Museum and Library Services that Hanford's two IMLS-funded grants had been terminated, effective April 8. "The grants totaled $238,475 ($82,516 of which not yet disbursed) of essential funding for programs offered to area visitors, residents and children and the preservation of items and information with local historical significance," a news release from the museum stated. The termination letters, signed by acting IMLS director Keith Sonderling, state that 'IMLS has determined that your grant is unfortunately no longer consistent with the agency's priorities and no longer serves the interest of the United States and the IMLS Program.' Hanford Mills Museum, in East Meredith, preserves an operational water- and steam-powered sawmill and gristmill as well as a historic manufacturing, retail and agricultural site. With a staff of five full time employees and some part-time employees, the museum "offers 3-4 special events, serves thousands of visitors, and provides over 250 educational programs to area schools each year," the release stated. IMLS had awarded HMM two grants for multi-year projects to help complete critical work that would enhance their service to the public: one to improve the management and care of its historic objects to ensure that they last for current and future generations (2022-2025), and the other to create an interpretive master plan informed by community participation that would guide the museum's activities into the future (2024-2026), the release stated. With the termination, the museum loses $34,187 that was already allocated to cover work on these projects in 2025. That means about 8% of the museum's total budget for the year has been unexpectedly cut, according to the release. One of the grant projects included a professional development workshop that was open to other local museums, and that training will now be canceled. 'This unfortunate news arrived as I returned from the annual conference of the Museum Association of New York,' Executive Director Kajsa Harley said. 'I had just heard many stories of canceled federal funds from colleagues across the state. Ours is one of hundreds of similar situations unfolding across the country right now, in rural communities and cities alike.' IMLS awarded the grants to Hanford Mills after a competitive process "that acknowledged HMM's outstanding integrity and interpretive work among small historic sites," the release stated. Grant applications are awarded based on review not only by IMLS agency staff, but also by panels of museum professionals from across the country "who understand the nature of the field's work, the need for museums to directly serve the public, and the measurable positive impacts museums have on local economies and community preservation," the release stated. Most museums and libraries have to match every federal dollar they receive with money from their own operating budgets in order to get the funding support, according to the release. 'The impact of these federal grants far exceed investment, both in terms of public education and enrichment and what museums contribute to their local economies as tourism drivers and employers,' Harley said. 'As a small rural museum, we stretched every dollar from this federal funding so that we could do our best work in providing fantastic programs and preserving the site and our historic artifacts. We leverage grants like these to help us with our efforts to provide low-cost or no-cost experiences to local families, visitors to the area and our neighboring schools.' Despite the funding terminations, "HMM remains committed to its mission to inspire audiences of all ages to explore connections among energy, technology, natural resources, and entrepreneurship in rural communities," the release stated. 'The work that museums and libraries do is essential to our communities,' Harley said. 'Our hope is that our communities value our work enough to support us, financially, of course, but also as ambassadors who are willing to advocate for us to state and federal officials.'
Yahoo
10-04-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Trump order ends grant to help Vermont's local historical societies preserve the past
The Vermont Historical Society says funding for a statewide program to train and support volunteer staffs at local historical societies has been terminated by the Trump Administration. The $175,000 grant from the Institute of Museum and Library Services would help Vermont's 190 small historical societies and museums care for and organize their collections. VHS said it learned the grant had been terminated in an April 8 letter from Keith Sonderling, acting director of IMSL. 'Upon further review, IMLS has determined that your grant is unfortunately no longer consistent with the agency's priorities and no longer serves the interest of the United States and the IMLS Program,' Sonderling said. 'IMLS is repurposing its funding allocations in a new direction in furtherance of the President's agenda.' The grant for the Activating 21st Century Local History Training Program paid for one staff member to provide 'direct, hands-on' assistance to local societies. VHS says that person will be laid off. Amanda Gustin, VHS's director of collections at the Vermont Historical Society, told ABC22/FOX44's Lauren Maloney last month that the grant may be at risk after Trump's signed an executive order defunding seven government agencies, including the Institute of Museum and Library Services. 'We've done some great work on it already,' she said. 'We think right now we have until about mid-April, but we haven't yet received any answers on whether that grant will be honored after that.' Most of the funding from the grant — about $140,000 — is unspent, and VHS says it has been unable to secure funding from other sources to continue the project. 'Tragically, this move deprives Vermont's local historical societies of the resources and programming designed to support their operations as the nation prepares for the 250th anniversary of the founding of the country,' VHS said. Last year, VHS's Director of Service & Outreach Eileen Corcoran said the grant 'has the potential to be a game changer for Vermont community history and beyond.' Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
CBS News
01-04-2025
- Politics
- CBS News
Nearly all employees at federal agency supporting museums and libraries put on administrative leave
Nearly all employees at the Institute of Museum and Library Services, an agency created by Congress to support American museums and libraries, were put on administrative leave Monday, according to a Trump administration official. An IMLS employee and a union representing them said all employees were put on leave, but an administration official said 12 employees were not. The move still impacted 80% of IMLS' roughly 75-employee staff. Earlier this month, President Trump signed an executive order calling for the agency, as well as six other governmental entities, to be reduced to "the minimum presence." A few weeks ago, employees of the Department of Government Efficiency , or DOGE , were spotted in the IMLS building in Washington, D.C., to attend the swearing in of the new acting commissioner, Deputy Labor Secretary Keith Sonderling. AFGE Local 403, the union representing IMLS employees, said the notification to employees came after a "brief meeting between DOGE staff and IMLS leadership." It said museums and libraries would no longer be able to contact IMLS staff for updates about their funding. The message also said the status of previously awarded grants is unclear, but that funding is likely to be terminated. IMLS has approximately 75 employees and was created by Congress as an independent federal agency in 1996 through the Museum and Library Services Act to support American museums and libraries. Last year, the institute awarded $267 million in grants across the country, with a focus on helping to organize book drives and museum field trips in areas without existing access to libraries or museums. EveryLibrary, an organization supporting libraries across the country, called the move to put employees on leave "potentially devastating for institutions that depend on federal support to meet local needs." "This is not merely a bureaucratic activity; it is a crisis for the library, museum, and archive communities across the United States," the group said in a statement . An email to IMLS employees Monday from the agency's human resources director stated there was no "disciplinary purpose" being served in putting these employees on administrative leave. The notice said email accounts would be disabled and instructs employees to leave laptops and work cellphones in the office, according to text of the email shared with CBS News. One employee said Sonderling's arrival at the agency seemed to signal that employees would soon be put on administrative leave. They have not been told what will happen to the agency, though one possibility entails shrinking the staff footprint to 30 employees and moving them to the Labor Department, according to the Federal News Network . A White House official said the restructuring "is a necessary step" to fulfill Mr. Trump's executive order and would ensure "hard-earned tax dollars are not diverted to discriminatory DEI initiatives or divisive anti-American programming in our cultural institutions." "These changes will strengthen IMLS's ability to serve the American people with integrity and purpose," they added. Mr. Trump also signed an executive order this month that targeted funding for the Smithsonian Institution programs that haves what he characterizeds as "divisive, race-centered ideology." A bipartisan group of senators, including Republican Senators Lisa Murkowski of Alaska and Susan Collins of Maine, have previously called for the agency to retain its federal funding and responsibilities under the Museum and Library Services Act of 2018, which Mr. Trump signed in his first term. "We write to remind the Administration of its obligation to faithfully execute the provisions of the law as authorized," the senators wrote in a letter to Sonderling. "IMLS grants enable libraries to develop services in every community throughout the nation, including people of diverse geographic, cultural, and socioeconomic backgrounds, individuals with disabilities, residents of rural and urban areas, Native Americans, military families, veterans, and caregivers."
CBS News
31-03-2025
- Business
- CBS News
All employees at federal agency supporting museums and libraries put on administrative leave
All employees at the Institute of Museum and Library Services, an agency created by Congress to support American museums and libraries, were put on administrative leave Monday, according to an IMLS employee and a union representing IMLS workers. Earlier this month, President Trump signed an executive order calling for the agency, as well as six other governmental entities, to be reduced to "the minimum presence." A few weeks ago, employees of the Department of Government Efficiency , or DOGE , were spotted in the IMLS building in Washington, D.C., to attend the swearing in of the new acting commissioner, Deputy Labor Secretary Keith Sonderling. AFGE Local 403, the union representing IMLS employees, said the notification to employees came after a "brief meeting between DOGE staff and IMLS leadership." It said museums and libraries would no longer be able to contact IMLS staff for updates about their funding. The message also said the status of previously awarded grants is unclear, but that funding is likely to be terminated. IMLS has approximately 75 employees and was created by Congress as an independent federal agency in 1996 through the Museum and Library Services Act to support American museums and libraries. Last year, the institute awarded $267 million in grants across the country, with a focus on helping to organize book drives and museum field trips in areas without existing access to libraries or museums. EveryLibrary, an organization supporting libraries across the country, called the move to put employees on leave "potentially devastating for institutions that depend on federal support to meet local needs." "This is not merely a bureaucratic activity; it is a crisis for the library, museum, and archive communities across the United States," the group said in a statement . An email to IMLS employees Monday from the agency's human resources director stated there was no "disciplinary purpose" being served in putting these employees on administrative leave. The notice said email accounts would be disabled and instructs employees to leave laptops and work cellphones in the office, according to text of the email shared with CBS News. One employee said Sonderling's arrival at the agency seemed to signal that employees would soon be put on administrative leave. They have not been told what will happen to the agency, though one possibility entails shrinking the staff footprint to 30 employees and moving them to the Labor Department, according to the Federal News Network . A White House official said the restructuring "is a necessary step" to fulfill Mr. Trump's executive order and would ensure "hard-earned tax dollars are not diverted to discriminatory DEI initiatives or divisive anti-American programming in our cultural institutions." "These changes will strengthen IMLS's ability to serve the American people with integrity and purpose," they added. Mr. Trump also signed an executive order this month that targeted funding for the Smithsonian Institution programs that haves what he characterizeds as "divisive, race-centered ideology." A bipartisan group of senators, including Republican Senators Lisa Murkowski of Alaska and Susan Collins of Maine, have previously called for the agency to retain its federal funding and responsibilities under the Museum and Library Services Act of 2018, which Mr. Trump signed in his first term. "We write to remind the Administration of its obligation to faithfully execute the provisions of the law as authorized," the senators wrote in a letter to Sonderling. "IMLS grants enable libraries to develop services in every community throughout the nation, including people of diverse geographic, cultural, and socioeconomic backgrounds, individuals with disabilities, residents of rural and urban areas, Native Americans, military families, veterans, and caregivers."
